Beauty and the Beast: The Wrath of Forte
by ChaosAngelMoon
Summary: Takes place after the events in the midquel - BatB: The Enchanted Christmas. Over a year has passed since the spell was broken. But what of poor Forte? Did he really die last Christmas? Or did he come back after the spell was broken? No one dared to enter the room where he once resided, and no one wants to. Some even say he may be haunting the castle...or alive with a vengeance...
1. -Prologue-

-Prologue-

 _It's Christmas Day at the castle, and the guests danced and the children played around whilst Princess Belle and Prince Adam watched merrily and laughed. Mrs. Potts just finished the story of what happened in the events of last Christmas, when everyone was still enchanted. The prince just gave princess Belle her present, and upon opening it was a beautiful rose. A symbol of their love and remembrance of how it all came to be. They moved away from the balcony and returned to the crowd before them._

'Can I get your attention please, everyone?' _announced Prince Adam. Everyone gathered around in a great circle, servants and maidservants, Mrs. Potts, Chip, and even Lumière and Cogsworth stopped arguing to attend to the prince's matter._ 'I am glad that everyone is having a wonderful Christmas tonight, but my dear Belle has told me she feels unwell, and I must tend to her.' _Belle gave a tired smile and winced as she held her hand on her stomach. Even with illness, she upheld grace with every movement._ 'But Your Highness, you can send one of uz up there to care for Belle while you stay here. It'z our service,' _exclaimed Lumière. The crowd was a hum of murmured concerns for the new princess._ 'I know,' _said the prince,_ 'but I would only see to her upstairs, if nothing more.' _The crowd was hushed into silence._ 'Very well, your Highness. We will wait for you downstairs,' _said one of the two maidservants facing Adam, both curtsying. With this the circle parted into a 'U' shape for Belle and the prince to make their way upstairs._

On the way up, Belle asked Adam quietly,

'Do you think he's still down there, the same way we left him?' _Adam looked up to her and said solemnly,_ 'It's been over a year since anyone has ever been downstairs in that wing. We're not even sure if the castle has been reconstructed because of the spell breaking, but...' _Adam trailed off, looking down._ 'Look Belle, I don't think people who... moved on while enchanted even turn back into humans when the spell breaks. I'm not sure what's down there besides the fallen organ.' _Belle looked away with grave concern on her face._ 'I don't know Adam, I-' 'You don't need to worry about him Belle. Forte's gone. When-when I was-we-were down there, I felt his presence leave. It's as if he left the organ behind and... it's just a broken pipe organ.' _They approached the top of the stairs and turned right._ 'If you were wondering if... there was a body there, I don't think there is.' _Belle looked back at Adam._ 'Has no one went down there to investigate? It's been a whole year, Adam.' _Adam stopped and lifted her chin to his face, facing her completely._

'I know, I know, but everyone has been too afraid of what they might see. Some even think that part of the castle is haunted now.' _He chuckled, but his face hardened again quickly._ 'I'll tell you what. I'll send for someone outside of this kingdom to investigate it. I'll tell them we might need... repairs and we just need to know that everything in that wing is in order.' _Belle smiled, but then winced as more nausea came._ 'Aah-ah-ow!' _whined Belle._ 'Oh! Oh right, sorry,' _said Adam nervously. They continued down the hall until they parted ways at their bedroom door._ 'Take care, okay Belle? I'll send someone up.' _Belle smiled and closed the door._

Later, a servant happened to pass by the door in that wing to go clean when they heard faint music coming from the door. The servant stopped and looked around. Where did the music come from? Nervously, he turned slowly to the door that led down into the basement. He crept carefully, though shivering, and placed his ear on the door. Silence. Whatever was that noise-music? -was, it stopped before he listened through the door. Maybe it was all in his head. Spooked, he quickly dashed away from the door to return to his duties.

 **(A/N: Let me know how the story is so far! As I've stated on DeviantART, I want to bring Forte some justice (and hopefully some more fans) by creating a great story! I'm new to FF, so this is the only way I see to add Author's Notes in, unless this is the ONLY way. lawl**

 **EDIT: Only the prologue is formatted this way for differentiation. The rest of the story is not formatted this way. Some of my spaces were scrunched, sticking the period with the beginning of the next sentence. I'll add single quotations for better reading as well!**

 **EDITDEUX: I'm going back over the entire story, to fix minor errors or improve some text. The story as it stands is complete, but the corrections will be ongoing little by little as I have a college class now.)**


	2. -An Empty Tune-

-An Empty Tune-

 _5 months later_

"Cogsworth! COGSWORTH!" Shouted a distressed prince. Cogsworth dashed as quickly as his portly build could carry him. Exhausted, Cogsworth panted, "Y-yes, Your Highness? Is Princess Belle alright?". Princess Belle was bent over slightly in pain, baby bump highly visible. "Please go find Belle a maidservant, please!" Prince Adam said, panicked. Cogsworth was stunned. "Your Highness, wasn't there already someone just here?! Where did she go?"

Annoyed, prince Adam pinched the bridge of his nose and hung his head, sighing deeply. "Belle dismissed her around five minutes ago because she felt fine. Now she's in pain, so go GET HELP!" roared the prince. He calmed down and quickly said, "I'm sorry, Cogsworth. I'm just stressed about the care of my love and our future child. I don't want anything to happen to her or the child." Cogsworth, understanding, straightened himself and said sternly, "I understand, Your Highness. I shall fetch someone now." With that, he left hastily.

Adam got up from the bed and told Belle, "I need you to lie down, you'll fee-" Belle interrupted and said, "No, no Adam, I'm fine upright." "Well, are you sure? You don't look so well." Adam said. Belle, looking up to him from gazing at the floor said quietly, "It'll feel WOR-OSE!" She gripped her abdomen tighter and leaned to the right, elbow touching the bed. "Is it the baby? It's not coming already, is it? The doctor said it'll be another three months until it's due!" Adam raised his voice in alarm. Moments later, a maidservant came in with a bucket of warm water and a rag. She turned to the prince and said, curtsying, "I'll handle it from here Your Highness. Please attend to the visitor downstairs. He's been waiting for you." Adam thanked her and said to Belle, "Don't worry Belle, you're going to be alright." Belle chuckled weakly and said, "I think you mean you'll be ok. I've been calm this whole time."

"Oh, heh right." Adam rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, looking away downward. "Say Adam, did you ever get anyone to check down in the West Wing's basement yet?" said Belle, raising her head now lying completely down. "Stay still, Your Majesty. Moving too much will upset the little one." said the maidservant, laying the cloth over Belle's exposed belly. Adam looked up and said, "I tried to reach out to anyone to get a contract with, but with no success. There was, however, this one man who said he will give it a look see, but it's been months since I've spoken with him. Besides, between being a ruler and overseeing your care and the baby's, I've been pretty busy. I'll get to it when I can, and then I'll give you an update, okay?" Belle simply smiled and laid back down, eyes closed.

Adam walked to the door and before exiting looked back and said to the maidservant, "Please take good care of her for me." "As always, Your Highness," said the maidservant, bowing her head. He then leaves the room.

"Where iz ze Prince? He should've been here by now," said Lumière puzzled. Just then, descending the grand staircase was the prince. Lumière walked over to the prince, but was stopped by Cogsworth. "Ah, ah, ah! You should be overseeing the dining room preparations, monsieur!" said Cogsworth proudly, blocking Lumière from the prince. "Oh, ho-ho mon amie, you zee I already have everything done. In fact, I even have completed preparations for dinnare tonight." Lumière said matter-of-factly. Getting red, Cogsworth said, "WELL, I-" "A-HEM!" coughed prince Adam. Cogsworth turned around and said humbly, "Well you see, Your Hi-" Lumière butted in, bumping Cogsworth out the way, "-Your Highness, ze man you were talking to many monthz ago iz-" Cogsworth returned the favor and butted Lumière out the way, nearly knocking him over due to his strength. "-the man you were talking to-" Lumière and Cogsworth went back and forth, bumping each other. "Who is here?" said Adam, to Mrs. Potts who just came over. "The man who will look into the West Wing's basement." she said.

Everyone grew quiet. Lumière and Cogsworth stopped fighting, and both said, unanimously, "yes sir." They parted ways to make way for the guest. He stepped forth to meet the prince. "I'm terribly sorry about these two, they tend to quarrel often." Adam apologized to the guest. He was a lanky male with a brown hat, peppered beard and mustache. He wore a brown trench coat with a white shirt underneath a blue jean jumper, white socks and brown shoes. He appeared to have a country farmer-like appearance to him. He took off his hat, revealing a receding hairline. "It's quite alright, Yur Royal Highness, uh Majesty?" he said as he bowed. He has a distinctive countryside accent. "Either one is fine, sir. Now we've only talked before once, so forgive me for your name escapes me."

He got up and placed his hat back on his head. "My name is Jacques Dupont, an' you wanted me to have uh look see at yur basement ur something fer repairs, Yur Highness?" Adam nodded and led the man into the West Wing. No one else dared followed.

"Through this door," said Adam, presenting the door with a hand gesture. Jacques looked at the door, then back behind them, and looked back to the prince and said curiously, "Why is nobody else here to accompany you, Yur Highness?" Adam reassured him, "Rumors around the castle prevents anyone from going down there, but I assure you there is nothing to worry about." Adam felt that he needed to be assured himself. "If you don't mind I'd like to attend to matters elsewhere," said prince Adam, feeling unease and finding a reason to get away from the door. "It's alright, Yur Highness, I'll be making my way down an' I'll let you know if there's any problems." said Jacques with a smile. With that Adam left and Jacques grabbed a torch from the wall before opening the door.

Several minutes have passed as Adam waited impatiently on the throne while everyone else attended to their own business, trying not to think of the horrors that could be down in the basement.

An hour has passed before Jacques returned. Asleep, Adam was awoken by the clamor of voices as everyone crowded around Jacques. Lumière nudged Cogsworth in the gut and whispered, "Zee? He's alive, and you lost ze bet." Grumbling, Cogsworth searched his pockets for cash before placing said cash into Lumière's discreetly. Adam got off the throne and stretched before walking down to meet Jacques. Seeing a smile on his face didn't make Adam feel the least bit relieved. "Did everything turn out fine down there?" Adam asked, masking his fear. "Hoo-whee! Is everythang fine? Yur Highness, did you know that there wuza _soo-weet_ massive pipe organ down there?!"

Adam's eyes widened as he asks, "Wait, is it destroyed or anything?" Jacques simply said cheerfully, "Broken? That baby glistened like gold! Looks as new as they come! A bit dusty sure Yur Highness, but she's a beaut down there! I checked the whole room out fer any cracks ur holes like you said, but you didn't tell me there wuzan instrument down there!" Adam finally felt relieved. He said to Jacques, "I...I used to know someone who loved that pipe organ. It was as if... it was a part of him. He no longer lives at the castle however." Someone in the back of the crowd let out a quiet shudder, but neither the prince nor Jacques heard. Jacques also included, "Maybe it was the previous court composer's," suggested Jacques. Adam stiffened."I'm just messin' with you; also Yur Highness, I hope you didn't mind lil' ol' me playing with 'er, just to see if she works still." Adam's body went cold. "Wait, you what?!"

"I mean no offence, Yur Highness. I needed to make sure everythang wuzin order," said Jacques, cowering. Adam relaxed and apologizes. "Well, if you're not in need of my services, I suppose we're dun here." "Thank you so much for checking it out Jacques." Adam said with a smile. "Anytime Yur Highness." And then Jacques went towards the door. Before leaving, he said, "Oh and also I left to go find an' use the restroom. It seems that not all your residents stay away from that door, Yur Highness."

"Why do you say that, Jacques?" inquired Adam. Old man Jacques simply stated, "By the time I went back, I hurd someone playing on that organ. It sound purdy gloomy, but at the same time really well played. I opened the door an' as I got closer, the music gets louder. I called out, 'Hel-lo?', an' deen the music stops. I said, 'You don't need to-staaa-hop?' as I turned the corner frunda stairs an' no one wuz dere. Must've scared the poor bugger off."

Everyone was silent, including Adam. "Well it must've been yur court composer, right? Why else have a pipe organ downstairs?" A timid man with a huge nose came forward. It was Fife. "I-I am the c-current court comp-p-poser, and-and-and I've b-been up h-here this h-whole t-t-time." He was visibly trembling. Jacques burst in laughter as he said, "Well it must've been sumone messin' around yur organ, monsieur! You all have a good day! And you too Yur Highness." With that last regard, he leaves, cackling fades as silence filled the room. No one made a sound, except the sound of ruffling clothes from Fife's trembling. He then blacked out.


	3. -The Phantom of the Castle-

-The Phantom of the Castle-

Fife came to with a start and gasped. He was in a bed in the hospital ward of the castle. Lumière, Cogsworth, and Fifi-Lumière's girlfriend-are around the bed. "Oh my goodness! Are you alright, mon amie?" said Lumière worriedly. "You're az white az a ghost!" Fife began trembling again. "N-no, d-d-don't say th-that Lumière," said Fife timidly. He continued, "Oh, it was awful. I saw him! I was walking down into the basement and there he was, human and all. He-he tried to kill me- strangling he was." Lumière sat down on the right of the bed, facing Fife. "But you were not. You were here, with all of uz, seeing Jacquez off after he inspected the basement, you know, for 'repairs'." said Lumière, with quotation mark gestures about the real intent why Prince Adam hired someone to go down the West Wing's basement.

"Oh, I got a feeling he's down there. We were too afraid of going down there, I'm sure he's angry." whined Fife, on the verge of fainting again. To lighten the mood, Lumière chuckled and said boldly, "There iz no more Forte, Fife. You are the maestro now; there iz nothing to worry about." He got up from the bed and walked around to the foot of the bed. "Besides, there are no such things as ghosts, Fife. You can't make angry what doesn't exist, no?" Fife shuffled to the left side of the bed to put his feet down and sit up. "What if he isn't a ghost? What if... he's alive? A-and angry?"

"BAH! That old cod was always angry at something!" fumed Cogsworth. "Listen, Fife. He is gone, and there is nothing else to it." "Oh, but I bet you still think he'z alive too, don't you Cogsworth?" Lumière said, winking. "What?! Oh no, good sir, what are you up to? Forte is done-tay! He is NOT alive and he is most certainly NOT a ghost!" Lumière tapped his chin with his index finger. "Maybe he _might_ be alive, and wantz to be left alone." he said slyly. Fife jumped up quickly. "What?! No, no, no no no! Do not say such things-whoa!" Fife said before falling, only for Cogsworth to catch his fall.

"Fife's right, we are not going around on a wild goose chase for a _dead man_!" retorted Cogsworth. "But Cogsy-" Lumière started. "Don't 'Cogsy' me, Lumière! We. Are. NOT! Finding. Forte!" Cogsworth said, gritting his teeth. "Hasn't poor Fife had enough?! This man _still_ has night terrors of THAT man!" Cogsworth placed Fife back down on the bed. "It's best you stay rested up, I will send for someone to get you something to eat. Lumière's right about one thing: you are indeed pale."  
"Try not to get up too fast again monsieur, oui?" said Fifi, holding onto Lumière's left arm before they all departed. Fife can't shake the feeling of being watched...

"Lumi, you are being too brash on him," cooed Fifi, petting his arm. "I was only trying to lighten thingz up for him, you know? To make Fife feel protected in someway." said Lumière solemnly. "Well that's no way to relieve his tension of Forte," snapped Cogsworth. "Remember, he used to look up to that man." "In more ways than one," mumbled Lumière. Cogsworth eyes narrowed. "Listen, my pet. Go tend to your duties and I shall return to oversee the kitchen activities, non?" purred Lumière to Fifi, kissing the back her left hand. She giggled and scurried off, saying, "I'll be waiting for you, my dear Lumi." Cogsworth fake gagged at the lovestrucked lovers. "In time, mon amie, you too shall know the powers of l'amour," Lumière sighed.

He turned around to face Cogsworth when something-or someone-behind him down the hall quickly side-stepped out of view. Lumière couldn't be sure of it, but he thought he saw something white and black stepped out of his peripheral vision. Lumière's mouth hung wide. "Oh what is it now, Lumière?" said Cogsworth, looking behind himself. "I could've sworn I saw his wig, mon amie," Lumière huffed quietly. Cogsworth quickly became annoyed. "Really now?! After all this, you're still trying to play it off? Why I'd never-!" fumed Cogsworth before storming off. Lumière pleaded, "No, I am not kidding you, I really could have sworn-" "You watch what you're swearing on, because what you 'saw' was of your own making! Hmpf! How about you get yourself back in that kitchen, and tell someone to fix a meal for Fife. Huh?! I bet you forgot about him!" And with that Cogsworth leaves hastily. "B-but-" Lumière began, but he knows Cogsworth won't listen anymore to him. Lumière looks down with anxiety. To himself, quietly he said out loud, "But what if Fife's right? What if he IS still alive?"

 _Meanwhile, elsewhere in the castle..._

"AAAAHHHH-HUUUUUGGHHH!" someone cried out! "Oh dear heavens, what is it now?" asked Mrs. Potts worriedly. "Mrs. Potts! ! I saw him! I saw the old maestro! We have disturbed his ghost and now he ROAMS THE CASTLE AHH HAW-HAAAAAGH!" some maid shrieked. In the middle of straightening the bed, she told the maid to finish it while she reports it to the prince. Mrs. Potts saw Adam attending to someone else's matter and overhead them saying, "...then I heard a loud noise, out of nowhere like keys struck on an instrument and I was terrified!" Prince Adam saw Mrs. Potts approaching from the corner of his eye, and turned to face her. "Finally, the voice of reason. Please, tell this servant that there is nothing to worry about. He claims he saw Forte walking about making noises."

"Uhh..." Mrs. Potts started, chuckling nervously. "Well, you see Your Highness, I was told by one of my maids that she also happened to see him walking about, disappearing around corners and such." She wrung her apron in a sheepish manner, wishing to be away and cleaning a room somewhere. Adam simply sighed and slumped in his chair. Lumière came into the room and said, "I believe she's right, Your Highness. I thought it waz in my own head that I may have seen a white wig disappear around the corner of an adjacent hallway behind my good friend Cogsy, but he also doez not believe me." "That's because of what you said to Fife!" Cogsworth said, stepping into the room.

Lumière mouthed to Cogsworth 'Not now!', but he simply grinned when Adam asked, "What did you say to Fife?" Giggling nervously, Lumière was bout to voice his opinion when Cogsworth said, "Fife may have thought that Forte was alive, and Lumière said that he is not, and there are no such things as ghosts, which I also agree on," Lumière sighed of relief, but snorted when Cogsworth added, "However, he then tried to wager that maybe he is alive after all and Fife is right." Cogsworth then placed his hands behind his back, a proud smug grew on his face as he looks at Lumière.

"Why would you say that to Fife of all people? You know how he used to look up to Forte as a role model!" Adam started, raising his voice. "He was full of both admiration and fear of Forte, Lumière. Not to mention he once was against us..." Adam trailed off. "Your Highness, I meant no harm. I waz thinking, 'maybe if we were to quote-unquote look for Forte', he'd feel a lot safer." Lumière said sympathetically. "No, Lumière," Adam started, tone softened. "For Fife's sake, it's better off if we all believe he's dead. Forte is no more."

Fife was uneasy as he sat on his bed. He got up to investigate the room, to ease his mind of his former music partner perhaps? Fife checked under all the beds and closets, but found nothing more than medical supplies. He peered out the hallway to the left and it was empty. And dark. _Oddly dark, where are the torches?_ thought Fife. "Hello, Fifey," said a familiar voice behind him. Fife's blood went cold as he knows whose voice that belonged to. "Oh no..." Fife said faintly as he turned around.

Belle came downstairs accompanied with two maidservants after hearing commotions around the castle and decided to pay her husband a visit. "What's all the fuss about? Is there something you don't want to tell me, Adam?" said Belle upon reaching Adam's chair. Adam jumped with surprise and rushed to Belle's side. "You don't need to get up, Belle. Just go back and lay-" Adam started. Belle refused and told Adam, looking squarely in the eyes, "No Adam, I'm not sick! I need to move around, be out and about, as do the baby." Belle looked down before gazing back at Adam again. "You could've sent someone up to tell me about the basement, yet here I am hearing from servants whispering about Forte's ghost haunting the castle!" Belle shouted before putting her hands on her hips. "Well?" she asked impatiently.

Gulping, prince Adam fidgeted and said nervously, "Look, the builder I hired checked out the room and everything was fine. He also said that the organ was as good as new." He grinned, hoping Belle would not pressure him on. She knows he's hiding more information and stresses, "Aaand?" Adam dropped the guilty face and became more serious. "Look Belle, I know you're an adventurous spirit, waiting to see what's around the corner, well at least with books, but I cannot have you endangering yourself and the baby until I get things around here sorted." Belle looked a bit surprised. "Danger? What kind of danger?"

Adam sighed and said, "The builder also said when he came back from a restroom break, he heard someone playing on the organ. He called out, and whoever it was stopped playing and vanished before the builder came into the room." Belle stood quietly, but became more patient. Adam had a long pause before resuming. "Ever since then, there have been many reports of sightings of Forte-or his 'ghost', some say. I'm not sure what's going on, but we know what happened down there last Christmas. Forte died. I'm not sure if it's his ghost or anything, but..." Adam trailed off.

Lumière moments later dashed into the throne room and said, panicked, "Your Majesties! Come quick!" Adam's face became grave. "What happened, Lumière?" Lumière panted, pale as a phantom, said breathy, "It's Fife!"


	4. -A Familiar Face-

-A Familiar Face-

Adam and Belle quickly followed behind Lumière to where the hospital ward is in. Once there, Lumière looked around for Fife. "Fife! Where are you, mon amie? Tell them what you saw; I've brought the prince and princess here!" Shouted Lumière. No answer. "Zis iz bad, zis iz bad, zis iz bad," chanted Lumière. Prince Adam looked to him and asked, "What is bad, Lumière? What happened to Fife?" Lumière composed himself as much as possible before responding, "Oh it iz bad, Your Highness. I found Fife on ze floor, shaking uncontrollably from fear. He stuttered out that he saw Forte standing right behind him when he waz in ze infirmary."

Adam and Belle looked at each other with concerned faces. Lumière continued, "He said that az soon az he screamed, that old maestro _grabbed_ him and tried to cover his mouth! When Fife would not stop, he said that he then glowed green and disappeared in a music sheet mist or somezing! Prince Adam, it sounds just like _how he used hiz powers!_ I do not think you or Princess Belle iz safe here." Adam was astonished, mouth agape. "You said that he grabbed Fife? Impossible, I thought-we all thought-" "Exactly, Your Highness. We need to find him and what he haz done with Fife."

"No, no! I'm here, I was just h-hiding... f-f-from h-him..." said a frightened voice, running down the hall. "Fife! I'm so glad you're alright!" said Belle, running to hug him. Fife blushed, but gently pushed Belle away. "I-I'm so sorry to have frightened you all; I was so afraid he'd come after me after I made such a clamor!" said Fife fearfully. He looked around the room frantically. Adam, though a bit uneasy, maintained a stern expression. He's in disbelief that Forte is not only back, but alive. _Tangible._ With a big inhale, he asked, "What happened Fife? Did he actually grab you?" Fife turned pale. "Oh! It was awful! I was feeling watched in here, so I looked around, and then went into the hallway, but it w-was dark a-and-" Fife said quickly, but stopped abruptly to calm down. He continued, "I heard him call me by my nickname."

"'Fifey'," Adam mumbled under his breath. He remembered that it was the name Forte called him by, to gain his trust with his own solo. "Sounds a lot like him," Adam said plainly. "Oh come on, Your Highness! Surely this iz proof enough that Forte iz back!" exclaimed Lumière. Adam held up his hand to Lumière and said, "I'll let Fife finish his story." said Adam calmly. Fife continued, "Reluctantly, I turned a-around and I-I-" Fife paused for a moment. "-I saw him staring at me."

"He-he was different somehow, I can feel it, and when I saw him I screamed! I thought it was his ghost he-*shudder*-he GRABBED me! Tried to silence me, he did! I struggled and backed away, still screaming, then he just _disappeared!_ Into the music sheet power thing he had before! I assure you Your Majesties, he's back." Adam and Belle stood silent for a long time. "And th-that's not all," Fife said. "What is it, Fife?" said Belle finally. Fife looked down and said, " I didn't see it in his face, but I _felt_ it. I knew from before when we were all still enchanted, I could tell. I know when he's angry."

~~~

"What are we going to do Adam?" said Belle, looking up from her reading. Both Adam and Belle are in their bed, with Belle sitting up and Adam lying down. Adam sat up and said to Belle, "You won't do a thing. I'll handle this. Forte was my friend, or so I thought." Belle placed the book face down on her stomach and turned slightly to face Adam. "You think we may be able to talk to him? Reason with him?" Belle said hopefully. "He may harbor ill feelings and may not listen to reason anymore Belle, but I'll do what I can to resolve this issue." Adam assured her. He got up from the bed and walked to the door. "I'm going to go for a walk to clear my head. I can't sleep with this on my mind." he said to Belle. "Don't strain yourself, Adam. And be careful." Belle replied before resuming her book. "Make sure no one gets in this room until I return." Adam said to the guards standing outside their door before leaving.

~~~

Adam looked out on the balcony outside the ballroom behind him. The night was dull and dark, as if the stars were all hiding, afraid to come out behind the night clouds. The moon was absent most of the time, only to appear when the clouds roll by, then disappear again behind new clouds. "I knew someone who'd like this dreary night." Adam said out loud under his breath, leaning on the balcony ledge staring up into the void, head resting on his right hand. "Hello _Master,_ " said a colorless, familiar voice behind him. Whether it sounded subtlety malicious purposefully or this was a normal tone, Adam does not recall.

In alarm, Adam straightened up and said, slowly turning around, "Forte?" Before him stood the man once presumed dead. He thought he was seeing a delusion, created by the hysteria of the castle's residents. "Oh? You think I'm dead or something?" he said, perhaps sarcastically. "Wait, let me check just in case," he said as he patted himself down. "Well, I feel pretty real to me, what do you think, Master?" he said mockingly. Adam did not notice his own mouth open in awe, albeit in fear as well, until he said this. "This... isn't possible. We were all sure you were gone!" said Adam, astonished.

"Hmm," said Forte, as he slowly inches towards the prince. "Are you sure Master? You all seem so eager to get rid of me, eh? To just assume I'm gone and to stay dead in your mind; just erase me from existence, why don't you? I feel offended," he said feigning hurt. His sad expression quickly faded. A dull and emotionless expression plaster Forte's face now. "Oh, well that's awful of you. All of you." Adam did not move. Adam tried to look past him to where the guards were supposed to be. Forte picks up on this and says flatly, "Don't worry Master, they're only sleeping for now. It could've been much worse, oh with my homicidal tendencies and such." he teased. Adam flinched at the memory of Forte nearly killing everyone in the castle when he had a meltdown.

He continued, "You don't think I've heard what everyone has said about me this past _year_?" He was inches from Adam's face. His tall structure almost towers Adam. Adam did not move. He wanted to, but couldn't. He felt frozen to his spot. "H-how?" Adam rasped hoarsely, barely masking his fear. Forte didn't even change face to Adam's visible display of fear. He said to Adam calmly, "If you were wondering if I had died, then yes I had. It was, for lack of a better term, empty. I felt nothing, saw nothing, knew nothing. Only, there was one thing I had known. I did not want to stay this way. I wanted out. How, it seems, I came back must've been of my own determination, because before I knew it, I was awake back inside the castle."

Adam tried inching away from Forte, but Forte saw this and frowned a little, disrupting his placid expression. He grabbed Adam's shoulder, to which as a reflex, Adam gasped and slapped away his hand, sliding to the side and backing away a few feet. "Not so sure I'm not a ghost yet, _Master?_ " said Forte sarcastically, a hint of irritation in his voice despite his expression dull again. Forte continued, "But then I realized it may not have been sheer determination that brought me back..." With that, he stepped back and placed his hands in front of him. He slammed down on non-existing keyboards, except there was a loud sound of many keys at once. From his hands, green music notes and sheets whirled and materialized a glowing green organ in front of them.

"..apparently, it was the power I obtained when I was enchanted. Infused with my desire to live again, this power has brought me back to life!" said Forte, increasing in volume and changing his expression into one of pure anger. "For a year, A YEAR, NO ONE HAS EVEN ONCE CAME DOWN TO SEE IF I EVEN WAS DEAD FOR GOOD! I WAS ALIVE FOR A WHOLE YEAR!" The materialized organ turned red, and so has the power from around Forte's hands. He took in a deep breath, and with a wave of his hands, all the energy vanished, including the organ. "I may have died as a pipe organ, but the power that was left behind-lingering around it-has brought me back when the spell was broken." he said venomously.

Adam set aside his fear for a moment to ask, "Then, if you're alive, how were you able to get around the castle so quickly? Disappearing and reappearing at will?" Forte recomposed himself and said flatly, "It's amazing how much one could forget when enchanted for a long time that there were secret service tunnels all around the castle. Plus a few tricks of my own of course. I'm not even a maid or servant, but even I knew of these tunnels before the enchantment. I used to frequent them to be alone from time to time."

"S-so," Adam started, fighting off the fear again, "You're not mad? I mean, everyone did think that you were gone and had no need to check the West Wing basement." Forte feigned a small smile, but his eyes weren't smiling. Adam continued, "Some even said that your, uh, corpse may have even materialized and nobody wanted to even check for that. I did get someone to go down there eventually, but he's not a castle resident." Forte looked down. "Oh him," he mumbled, referring to Jacques who disrupted his practice on the pipe organ. Adam, feeling reassured, said kindly, "So we'll not have any trouble, right?" He grinned to try and make the situation lighter.

Forte's faux grin changed to a genuinely malicious one, and he sneered, "Oh? Will there be any trouble? Oh of _course not,_ Master!" he chuckled darkly. Adam became grave. With a stern voice, he stated, "I will not have anymore of this Forte! You need to either stop terrorizing the residents or get out!" Forte's grin left him and his face became unreadable again. "Oh, how unfortunate." he stated monotonously. Adam raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? How so?" he asked, eyes dangerous. Forte continued flatly, "The way I went was a horrible one. You took something of mine away. It brought me pain. Agony. I literally fell apart. It would only be fair if I could return the favor..." he trailed off.

"What are you implying?" asked Adam, fear and anger rising. Forte grinned mischievously and said, "It would be a _shame_ if anything happened to that precious child of yours, wouldn't it, _Master?_ " With that regard, he laughed maniacally as he vanished into green energy. Adam's eyes widened in horror. "Oh no, he wouldn't-Belle!" he said fearfully. He dashed from the balcony and raced upstairs. The guards watching the door, alarmed that the prince is escorted alone and running, said with weapons raised, "Is something the matter, Your Highness?" Adam ignored them and flung open the door. "BELLE!" he bellowed.


	5. -The Maestro's Return-

-The Maestro's Return-

"Goodness Adam, are you alright?" said Belle, frightened. She put the bookmark in place and got up from the bed. Adam breathed a sigh of relief and said shakily, "No, no need to get up Belle, I'm fine." Belle stopped walking, now more concerned than afraid. "You don't look fine. What happened Adam-?" she started, but was cut off abruptly. "It's F-Forte," he shivered. "I saw him." Belle gasped quietly as she sat back down in the bed. "Is he alright? What did you say? What did _he_ say?" Adam simply shook his head. "It's not safe here Belle. I need to get you out of here, to safety." Belle looked up to him and asked, "But where Adam? How are we going to have the coronation once our child is born?"

Adam came and sat next to Belle, taking her hands in his. "There may not be a coronation until we stop Forte, again. I am more concerned for your's and the child's safety than some-dumb-event that makes us king and queen when our child is born." Belle pulled her hands away and sighed. "Why do we have to stop him? You didn't tell me what he said." said Belle. Adam answered solemnly, "I don't need you to worry about what he's going-or rather not going-to do to you." Belle stood up, an adamant stare gleamed in her eyes. "I deserve the right to know, Adam! There must be some misunderstanding as to why we're in any sort of danger!" Adam stood up, eyes melancholy. "He implied that he was going to hurt our child." Belle became slightly saddened. She sat back down as Adam told her everything that happened.

"What are we to do now, Adam? It's the middle of the night, and we certainly wouldn't want to cause a disturbance in town. The people would worry if they see us riding out of the castle at this hour." Belle said calmly, looking down. Adam got up and walked to the door to creak it open. He poked his head out for a few minutes before closing the door and returning to the bed. They sat in silence until more guards entered the room. "For now Belle, I'd hate to say it, but we'll have to stay here until the morning. I will inform the servants in a meeting tomorrow and will carry on with a plan from there. Regardless of what happens to me, it seems it's you he's after, so you cannot stay here until everything is back in order."

"Don't worry Your Majesty, we'll be looking out for you," one of the guards to the right of the room said, pounding his chest then bowing. Belle nodded gracefully to the guard before turning to face Prince Adam. "How did he get his powers back? Or rather, from how you explained it, how did his powers still reside after the curse breaking?" Adam looked around the room, as if searching for answers, then closed his eyes and placed his chin between his index and thumb, elbow resting on his right leg. Then he sat up, eyes opened, with a gasp. "I know this will sound crazy, but what if we can find the Enchantress? Maybe she'll know what to do about Forte's powers!"

Belle gave him an are-you-kidding-me look. Adam continued, "No! I'm serious. She could still be around, we just need to know where to find her. Fight magic with magic, or at least find some way to negate Forte's." Belle sighed and said, "But Adam, even if we could find her, how can we know to trust her? It has been years as well, and there's no telling if she's still alive or not." One of the guards spoke out, "But it's true! There is a way to find said Enchantress!"

Both Belle and Adam looked to the left to see the guard who spoke. He jumped back at his blurt-out and said quickly, "So sorry Your Majesties for speaking out, but I heard of a way to find the Enchantress. Whether she is kind or ill-spirited I do not know. I know someone who has claimed to have met with the Enchantress." Both Belle and Adam sighed deeply. "It's worth a shot," said Adam, looking at Belle before pulling the covers back to lay down in. "Thank you," said Belle, waving to the guard. He nodded and regained his composure. "We'll see Adam," said Belle, before laying down completely, placing the book at her bedside and turning to her side to sleep. "Goodnight Belle." yawned Adam. Belle was already fast asleep.

~~~  
 _The view of their room pans out to a show of a portal-like mirror surrounded by a green aura..._

"Sleep tight, _Belle_ and Master, for it would be the _last_ peaceful night you'll EVER get..." said Forte, looking into the window of a portal he created. With the wave of a hand, the portal disappeared. From what little light that beamed down on him from the tall open window, it only illuminated the top half at what seemed to be fifty percent opacity. He looked up at the dreary sky from the window and scoffed. Grinning slyly, he turned around and disappeared into the shadows of an undisclosed room, low, dark laughter echoed softly from within it.

Adam sat at his throne, Belle at his side in her own, with a crowd of servants before them to address the issue at hand. Mrs. Potts held onto Chip tightly, much to Chip's discomfort. Lumière and Cogsworth stood silently next to each other, Lumière with a somber expression and Cogsworth a bewildered expression. "What's with this big meeting, old bean?" asked Cogsworth, still unaware. Lumière placed a finger to his lips and shushed softly. "You'll zee, mon amie." he said quietly. He perked up when Fifi scuffles to his side and smooched his left cheek. "What's with that pout, Lumi?" she teased. He smiled and said, "I only had longed for your presence, my little powdered pastry. Oh ho ho!" Cogsworth groaned.

Adam stood and silence came immediately with it. "Fellow servants and maidservants, I bring to you dire news that you all may or may not have heard of as of late." Fife stood shaking, but held his ground. Adam continued, "It has come to my attention that our old friend, Forte, has returned among us." The crowd gasped in unison, and a few screams from some of the maidservants. A small hum rose from the crowd as Prince Adam continues his speech. "I know of this, because just last night, I have met with him as well on the balcony behind me." Adam announced. Cogsworth looked flabbergasted. "This is an outrage Your Highness! He has been alive this whole time and never once came out to see us?! The coward!" he shouted. Adam answered, "It seems as though he felt abandoned that we never once went down there to see if he really was gone or not." The whole crowd fell silent again. "And as a result, he feels resentment for the inhabitants of this castle, including me and Princess Belle."

"It seems as though you all were the cowards instead, dear Cogsworth." echoed an unknown voice. Cogsworth paled at the familiarity of the voice. "What-?" he said as the crowd parted in half to reveal the source of the voice. The crowd looked around, amongst each other until a great whirl of glowing green aura came into the center of the crowd. Everyone once again gasped unanimously and a few shrieked in fear. "Forte!" shouted Adam, authoritatively. "Oh hello there, Master. My, what a sizable crowd of people here." he said, feigning timidness. "How could you all talk about me here, without inviting the person in question to this little soirée? Might I add it's a bit rude to talk about someone behind their back?" he said sarcastically.

Forte walked up slowly towards Belle and Adam from the center of the parted crowd. The guards ran from their positions to stand in front of the royal couple. "Stand down assailant, in the name of Prince Adam and Princess Belle, future King and Queen!" the guards said in unison. Forte looked stunned, a mixture of awe and hurt came immediately afterward. Adam said, "I don't know what you implied last night, but no one threatens my wife and child like that." Forte gave a small smile and said softly, "Oh, how endearing of you to protect Belle that way." Adam visibly grew angry. "That's PRINCESS Belle to you, you treacherous snake!" Forte was caught off guard, eyes wide, before plastering a dull expression. He said calmly, "So you're turning to name-calling, are we _Master_? And in my eyes..."

He started to glow a deep purple outline, sclera bright purple, and he raised his hands and yelled, "...SHE IS STILL THE WENCH THAT RUINED MY LIFE!" With that he slammed his hands down on keys that suddenly appeared, same color as his glowing body, from an instrument and it rang out with a terrible loudness. Ominous music begins to play as swirls of purple music sheet spreads out in various directions. Everyone screamed and ran around in terror as the purple sheets hits several people, knocking them down. Mrs. Potts and Chip ran with Fifi to safety, but Lumière and Cogsworth were hit and left seemingly unconscious. Fife was nowhere to be seen. A few guards escorted Prince Adam and Princess Belle away from the thrones and towards a side exit. "This way, Your Majesties!" one of them said.

"Oh-ho, _NO YOU DON'T!_ " roared Forte as he continues to play. This time, the purple aura turns red as he proclaims, "SEIZE THEM!" and points to the escaping royals. The people who were hit by the purple blasts rose up slowly, controlled under Forte's music, including Cogsworth and Lumière. They began running after the guards who were escorting Adam and Belle. "We'll hold them off, Your Majesties, just go to the stable as planned!" said one of the three guards, two of whom will be staying behind. Adam and the other guard, the one who knew how to find the Enchantress, helped Belle as she is running as they escaped the castle and went into the stables.

"How long do you think they can stall them?" panted Adam after mounting his horse. Belle was already in the carriage next to the stables, ready to be driven by the guard. The eerie music got louder, and sounds of many footsteps became louder towards the stable. "I'd say not very long," said Belle, wincing as she felt around the girth of her belly. Adam sucked his teeth then said, "Hang on, Belle!" With a command, Adam's horse gave a whinny and charged head on, out of the stable with the carriage on the side following soon after. Belle looked outside the window and saw a massive cloud of purple energy in the sky. "Adam!" Belle cried out, pointing to the sky. Riding beside the carriage, Adam saw her pointing up and looked. "We have to leave faster or we'll get controlled too." he said, gritting his teeth. With a nod, the guard whipped the leash to make the horses go faster. Purple music sheet aura continued to grow and expand around the castle and tried to lock them inside the castle's gate, but they narrowly escaped.

As they were passing through the town, the giant wave of purple aura from above came down on the townsfolk behind them, engulfing all the villagers. Belle and Adam, while still moving, looked back one last time before heading off into the unknown. Forte meanwhile stopped playing and roared in frustration. Though no longer playing music, everyone was still under the effects of his magic, his aura still visible everywhere. "This isn't _OVER!_ " growled a fed-up Forte. "I will have my _vengeance_!" With a few sharp inhales and exhales, he said calmly to himself, "Perhaps if I can't bring them all back here by force, then maybe I'll give them a reason to come back by their own volition..." With that, he laughs uproariously and maniacally.


	6. -The Wrath of Forte-

-The Wrath of Forte-

Prince Adam, Princess Belle, and the guard all stopped in a nearby town by an inn, the castle being nearly a dot with swirling clouds overhead in the distance. Belle immediately opened the carriage door without the guard's aid and walked out. Her expression pained, eyes closed tightly. She took a sharp inhale and began bawling. Adam dismounted his horse and walk over to comfort Belle. "Why is this happening? Why is he so filled with hate?" Belle wailed, tears streaming either side of her face. Adam looked down in what appears to be anger, but he couldn't muster up enough rage for Maestro Forte with Belle crying her heart out beside him. Adam's expression became one of anguish. Though Belle's questions were obvious, probably rhetorical, he gave an answer anyway, "I don't know Belle, other than for breaking the spell. It's a bit much for him to be extremely angry over that."

Belle widened her eyes and look at Adam through her tears and said shakily, "Really?! No, Adam it's not just the spell breaking, we abandoned him down there! He felt left out for over a year, he wanted us to see if _we_ even cared about him!" Belle straightened herself and wiped her face with a kerchief given by the guard walking towards her. She continued, voice steady, "Can't you feel it Adam? He's in pain right now. _Pain._ His isolation down there coupled with his initial resentment with me falling love with you is what brought him into this state! His pent-up emotions grew until he couldn't handle it anymore!" Adam looked at her and said steadily, "Now, we're not sure if its because he can't handle it anymore, or even if it's somehow-I don't know-Jacques' doing for going down there. I shouldn't have brought him there to investigate."

Belle gazed at Adam in disbelief. "Are you serious right now?! You're pinning this on a random man and disregarding our own failure to take action?! You STILL didn't tell me what _YOU_ said to him!" shouted Belle, pushing the puzzled prince and pointing. Adam shifted his feet after flailing his arms out to regain the balance he lost from being pushed. "I-I..." Adam started. He sighed. "I never really told him, about how he still mattered to me. I mean-after what he did, I began feeling doubt that he ever was my friend. I felt that he only used me, got close to me, only to keep me from falling in love with anyone. I felt betrayed, and just wanted to remember him as I felt before about him before he tried to end everyone's lives." said Adam glumly. Belle calmed down and remained silent. Adam concluded, "It hurts to know that a friend died. It hurts even more to know that they betrayed you. It hurts the worst when they come back from the dead."

Belle and Adam sat on their temporary bed at the inn. The innkeepers were quite surprised to see the royal couple so far away from the castle. They were informed by the guard to be attending a 'private meeting', so they traveled with light security to avoid attention. The innkeepers respected their request and did not draw attention to Prince Adam and Princess Belle. After a long silence, Belle finally spoke first. "Perhaps that's why he's so enraged now. Maestro Forte feels as though you've abandoned him. You wanted to disregard the rumors of him being alive because it hurts you to know a former friend came back to life, but in doing so you hurt him even more." Adam remained quiet. "It's...not your fault Adam. In the sense that I now know why you felt distant to Forte and didn't want to believe he was back. But," Belle started. "It still is my fault." Adam said finally. "I was selfish in preventing my own pain that I didn't want to face it by going into the West Wing basement to see if he was even there. It's as though I left him for dead, no longer cared for him, and because of that we're in this predicament." He placed his hands up to cover his face and began sobbing quietly. Belle placed a hand on his back and rubbed him softly.

There was a soft knock on the door. Startled, Belle hesitantly walked slowly to the door and said, "Yes?" "Pardon me Your Majesties, may I have a word with you?" said the guard. Belle sighed with relief, and opened the door. The guard stood at attention facing the door as it opened. He said to Belle, "The horses are still resting, but it is still imperative that we leave first thing in the morning. The Enchantress cannot be found by a set location, but by rather a grand display of selfless kindness. We will move into the next town over and see if there is any deed to be done. Then a path into the woods will open up, and lead straight into her cottage." Belle nodded daintily and said softly, "Thank you, uh, what's your name?" "Please Your Majesty, no need to learn my name. I am only here to serve you." said The Guard. Belle smiled and said, "Very well then, goodnight sir." She closed the door after he said, "Goodnight, Princess Belle."

 **(A/N: WARNING: The next sequence may become too disturbing to some readers, but not bad enough to effect the overall T rating)**

Two glowing blue songbirds flew to the open window sill in the royal couple's room. Upon spotting them they turned into red glowing crows and flew in, encircling them as they sleep. One dived to Belle's head and disappeared in a poof of smoke and the other to Adam's head before poofing away.

 _In Belle's dream, she was in a green field by a large lake in the countryside. Trees were sparse, and the field was covered in blue, pink, red, and purple flowers. She sat down by the lake and gazed into the water and saw her reflection. Suddenly, a beautiful woman with ebony hair, green eyes, and fair skin rose up to Belle and said cheerfully, "Come on, Belle! Come play with us!" and held up a small child in her hands from out the water. The child appeared to be either sleeping or unconscious. For some reason, Belle finds the child to be familiar to her, given that they have the same color hair. Then her eyes widened in shock. Giggling, the woman dived back down, partially revealing a scaled lower half before disappearing. "Wait, that's my-" she started then dove head first into the water. The lake was deeper than it seemed on the surface and Belle continued to dive down, tailing the scaled woman. Her lower half was still in two legs, but covered in sea foam green scales, ending in flipper-like fins for feet._

 _Belle continued to dive down, hearing the garbled laughter of the sea woman ahead of her. The child was in the woman's arm, cradled to the right side, descending lifelessly into the abyss. It then became too dark for Belle to see further down and the woman swam much faster than her. Belle stopped diving down and looked around for any sign of movement. Without warning, a black tentacle wrapped around Belle from the neck down and pulled her deeper at an alarming rate. The sudden rush of the speed proved too great as Belle begins suffocating. She can't breathe. The woman's wicked laughter can be heard that slowly transforms...into Forte's._

Belle is currently struggling to breathe in her sleep.

 _Adam's dream consisted of him waking up back in town near the castle. The sky was dark and cloudy, and an eerie hum was in the background. The area was in ruin and not a soul was around. Adam walked around town to find anyone, even a body, but nobody was here. He called out, but no answer. He ran all the way towards the castle to see if anyone was there. He swung open the gates and gasped. Everyone inside was walking around slow and somber, devoid of any color. He walked in and looked around to see any familiar faces. He spotted Lumière and asked, running over to him, "Lumière! Lumière, what happened around here?" He shook him to no avail, he just kept walking with his grim expression, ignoring Adam completely. Adam groaned and looked for anyone else. He saw Cogsworth in a corner, and shouted, "HEY COGSWORTH! Lumière said he can beat you in a race!" Cogsworth remained leaning his back to the wall and sighed._

 _Annoyed, Adam returned to Lumière, saying, "I saw Cogsworth over there with Fifi, flirting with her. You're going to let...him...do that?" Adam slowed to a stop when he realized Lumière is not paying him any attention. "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" he screamed, furious. "WHY IS NOBODY LISTENING TO ME?!" Adam flew into a rage and started to knock down decorations and slapping random people. "HELLO? IS ANYONE LISTENING TO ME?!" he roared. "SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, PLEASE!" he pleaded. Distraught, he raced upstairs to find Belle. Hopefully she's not involved in this silent treatment. He made it to their room and tried to open it, but it was locked. Adam grabbed a nearby axe out of a guard's hand and chopped the doors down. He raced to the bed and saw Belle asleep. He went to touch her gently and she faded to gray before becoming dust._

 _"No..." Adam breathed. He raced around the entire castle: kitchen, dining hall, infirmary, foyer, every room and bathroom, and everywhere else in the West Wing... except the basement. He ran down, flung open the doors, and yelled, "BELLE!" In the middle of the room with his back turned facing the pipe organ, was Maestro Forte. "You finally come into my inner sanctum, but instead of a warm welcome or even a mere 'hello', you called out for_ her _instead." said Forte, not budging. Adam looked at Forte and just noticed something in his left hand, dripping with something. It was too dark to see what it was, until he turned around. One by one, the torches lit the walls and filled the room with light. Forte held a bored expression, but was splattered in red. In his left hand was a_ cleaver _._

 _"Where's Belle?!" demanded Adam, panic rising. Forte slightly smirked and started chuckling, eyes fixated on Adam. Getting annoyed, Adam yelled,"WHERE IS BELLE, FORTE?!" He stepped back a bit as Forte started grinning wider, showing his vampire-like teeth and dropped the bloody cleaver, laughter getting louder. Forte turned and looked away to his right a little and held his right hand up to his mouth. "Did you like what I did to the residents? How does it feel to be ignored, Master?" Forte said between chuckles. He once again looked back at Adam. There was a crazed, maniacal look in his eyes, like a madman. Adam felt frozen in fear. He felt that this was his own doing, and now it will be his undoing. "To know what it feels like to be ignored, forgotten, no longer needed. It's awful, isn't it?" said Forte dully, laughter subsided. He walked closer to Adam. Adam tried to turn and run, but was suddenly chained by glowing green restraints._

 _"No, no, no," Forte cooed, then said sinisterly, "There's no need to run, Master." he took Adam by the arm and said, "I'll lead you to where Belle is." Adam was free from the restraints, but he wasn't moving. It was as if someone else is in control of his body, otherwise he would attack Forte and run. Reluctantly, he followed Forte into the kitchen, as he has no choice in the matter. Regaining control of his body, Adam pulled away from Forte, and said, "I already checked the kitchen. She's not here." Forte walked over to a door in the back of the kitchen. "Did you check the storage room?" he teased, pushing open the door with his right hand while facing Adam and grinning. Adam dashed in and on the table... was Belle._

 _"BELLE, NOOO!" he shrieked, horrified upon the sight. She lay lifeless, stomach torn open and child missing. He dropped down on his knees and cried. "Why, Forte? Why have you torn my child away from my love?" he sobbed between gasps. He didn't notice Forte walking away to retrieve another cleaver. Forte walked back and said calmly, "So you'll know how it felt to be me. That instrument is like_ MY _child, and it was a part of me!" He started to chuckle darkly. "It's poetic justice, in the sense that you feel ripped apart mentally, and Belle felt it...*chuckle*...quite_ literally _." Forte rasped as he held the cleaver above Adam's head. He said flatly, "So sorry for_ your _loss, Master." Adam turned around and looked up just in time to see Forte swing it down._

Adam woke in cold sweat upon impact as a loud crash is heard. Belle was gone from next to him. "Wha-?" he said as he looked up. The ceiling is gone, but there is a giant, glowing red bird elevating rapidly, while carrying something in its talons. Adam became fully awake when he shouted, "BELLE!" causing her to awake. Belle woke with a start at hearing Adam distantly in her dream. Now she knows why she was suffocating, because of the wind the bird created from them rising upward. It was blowing hard into her face, making it difficult to breathe. She screamed as she looked down as far as she could, but was mostly locked into the tight grip of the great bird's talons. The bird then begins to fly in the direction of the castle.

Prince Adam and The Guard raced outside where onlooking villagers gasped in horror. "Stop that bird, it took my wife, Belle!" Adam shouted. Everyone looked and was surprised to see The Prince amongst them. The women were mumbling about The Princess while others commented how charming Adam looks. The archers quickly gathered together their arsenal and began shooting arrows aimed at the wings. One arrow narrowly missed Belle. "Careful! We cannot harm the princess!" said Adam. "Is there anything else to shoot up there?" One of the men said, "We can't, Your Highness! They're too high up!" Another man used a rifle to successfully shoot one of the wings.

The great bird shrieked in pain before turning around and diving head first towards the villagers. The men scurried with rope and came up with a plan. Adam looked for the one who shot the rifle, and scolded, "Don't do that again! You could've shot Belle!" He looked sad and said, "My apologies, Your Highness. I am a skilled hunter, and thought I had enough experience to take a shot." Adam relaxed and nodded, thanking him. The bird was in range for the arrows, and one man shouted, "NOW!" and other men on rooftops and on the ground pulled on the ropes and entangled the bird flying through it, while the archer loaded arrows into it. It crashed down with great force, but not before dropping Belle before impact. The villagers who were conveniently nearby were there to catch the Princess's fall.

"Are you alright?" Adam said as he ran up to her. Out of breath, she winded, "I'm...f-fine. Out of breath... but...fine." He was relieved and tried to kiss her. She placed a finger on his lips and pushed him back while saying, "Let me...catch my breath first." She smiled as he blushed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. The bird appeared to have been a vulture of sorts, and shrieked one final time before dissipating. The villagers cheered before gasping at the sudden appearance of a glowing light forming in the air. Anticipating Forte, Adam stepped in front of her. Then, the light formed the figure of a woman before the light disappeared and revealed her form, glowing softly.

She was beautifully fair with raven hair, pale pink lips and deep blue eyes. She wore an elegant ball gown of blue and green with gold trimming. The top exposed the shoulders with cutaway sleeves opened to fall down like ribbons flowing free. The dress was primarily blue that ombre to light green at the sleeves and a darker green at the bottom of the dress. The blue starts light at the waist to dark where it meets the green. The elegant designs along the top, mid, and bottom sections of the dress embroidered in are also gold. "My, my, what a display of heroism you all had saving the princess!" she said in a high, yet gentle voice. She spoke with a softness like that of a motherly figure. Belle came from behind Adam and asked gently, "Who are you?" She floated down, trailing light as she does, then said softly, "I am The Enchantress."


	7. -The Enchantress-

-The Enchantress-

 _Flashback to the meeting in the castle_

 _Fife was among the crowd, looking over his shoulder for any sign of the eerie Maestro. Then, Prince Adam stood up to speak as the crowd died down. "Fellow servants and maidservants, I bring to you dire news that you all may or may not have heard of as of late." Fife stood shaking, but held his ground. Adam continued, "It has come to my attention that our old friend, Forte, has returned among us." Fife heard the servants gasp and shriek all around him. Some began small conversations with each other. "What do you feel about this, Maestro Fife?" said one of the servants to him. He merely shrugged, shivering as he did so._

 _Adam continued, "I know of this, because just last night, I have met with him as well on the balcony behind me." Adam announced. Cogsworth looked flabbergasted. "This is an outrage Your Highness! He has been alive this whole time and never once came out to see us?! The coward!" he shouted. Fife gasped at Cogsworth's outburst and harshly whispered to him, "Don't say that! He can probably hear us!" Adam answered, "It seems as though he felt abandoned that we never once went down there to see if he really was gone or not." The whole crowd fell silent again. "And as a result, he feels resentment for the inhabitants of this castle, including me and Princess Belle."_

 _Mrs. Potts and Chip eased on over to Fife in the crowd and mumbled, "Don't mind old Cogsworth. He'll say just about anything he thinks of right away." "What's going to happen, Mama?" Chip said fearfully. "Is Forte going to attack everyone again?" Mrs. Potts said to Chip, "He'll do no such thing to this sweet little boy." She poked his nose and he gave her a small smile. Just then, a familiar voice rang out, "It seems as though you all were the cowards instead, dear Cogsworth." "What-?" said Cogsworth as the crowd parted in half to find the source of the voice. "Oh no!" Fife breathed fearfully. He backed away slowly from the crowd in anticipation of seeing his old partner again. Mrs. Potts and Chip followed him until he stopped abruptly. He bumped into Lumière and Fifi just as Maestro Forte materialized into the center floor. Mrs. Potts turned around to see the old Maestro and gasped. Fife looked behind him to see the couple and said quietly, "S-sorry!"_

 _"It's not safe here," whispered Fife to Fifi, Lumière, Mrs. Potts and Chip. Cogsworth was out of earshot and was turned in Forte's direction. "What do you zuppose we do, mon amie? We can't fight him." said Lumière quietly. Just then, the guards came from all sides and stood before Forte in front of the royal couple. "I don't like the look of this, Lumi." said Fifi frightfully. Fife looked around and said softly, "We need an escape route or something. The Maestro's planning something, I just know it!" Suddenly, they felt a rush of wind and a purple glow was in the center of the room as Forte said, "...SHE IS STILL THE WENCH THAT RUINED MY LIFE!"_

 _Fife screamed as he ran off on impulse, heading towards the West Wing. "So much for an ezcape route," mumbled Lumière. He quickly kissed Fifi and yelled, "Run!" Fifi, Lumière, Mrs. Potts, and Chip all ran away in the same direction opposite Fife's. Lumière saw a purple wave of energy coming for Fifi and he quickly pushed her out of the way, hitting him in the process. "LUMIÈRE!" screamed Fifi as she ran towards him. Barely conscious, he said weakly, "Run my love, run and take Mrz. Potts and Chip with you..." before collapsing. Mrs. Potts pulled her up and away as she screamed and cried. "Come on dear! He wants us to get away!" shouted Mrs. Potts. Fifi turned around, picked up Chip, and ran off into the East Wing with Mrs. Potts. They ran upstairs, pausing frequently to catch their breaths, all the way up to the attic. Fifi tried to open the door, but it's locked. "Oh no!" she cried. They heard the sound of footsteps coming up behind them. Fifi stepped in front of Chip and Mrs. Potts to face whoever it was coming. "Won't you be needing this key?" said an assertive, womanly voice. The person came upstairs to finally reveal that... it's Angelique, the castle decorator._

~~~  
Currently in the castle...

Fife stifled his hyperventilating as he hid in an enclosed area. He heard very faint music go on for what seemed like an eternity, then it finally stopped. Fife waited several minutes more before leaving his safe area. He opened the door slowly, making a quiet creak noise. Fife was troubled though, because the environment now was so quiet-especially after all that noise-, that the small sound appeared louder and reverberated around the large room. Fife stepped out of the tiny closet space, hidden in the wall near the right side of the massive pipe organ. No sign of Forte. Cautiously, he made his way towards the base of the stairs that led up to the door leading out of the basement. Torches lit the walls every other placeholder, making the stairs, and hallway to the stairs, harder to see.

He turned the corner out of the massive room and into the narrow hallway. He walked slowly and carefully until he reached the base of the stairs when something grabs him by the hair on the back of his head. "EEEAAHHH-!" screamed Fife before a hand covers it. The unknown person swings him around to face him and said, "Fifey!" It was Forte. Though he sounded cheery, Fife knows Forte is any mood but. He bursts into laughter and said, "I've been looking all over for you!" Fife gulped and laughs nervously. "H-hey, Maestro! H-how are ya?" he said sheepishly. Fife then said quickly, "I didn't mean to take your job, I-I mean you were gone a-and all! S-s-so, if you want i-it back, I mean, hehe, YOUR the maestro after all, ha ha!" Forte simply grinned smugly and said, "No need, Fife. I have a special job for you instead." "Oh no..." said Fife, defeated.

~~~

Belle, Adam, and The Guard all sat on a plushy deep blue sofa inside The Enchantress's cottage, waiting in uncomfortable silence. The cottage appeared small on the outside, but very spacious on the inside. Finally, The Enchantress spoke, "Well, what brings you all to come see me?" Adam got up slowly, walked over to her and slightly bowed, saying, "Excuse us, dear Enchantress. We've come from the castle a little ways yonder over in the east. You may recognize me as the prince you've cursed many years ago?" The Enchantress tilted her head gracefully in confusion. "Oh? You have mistaken me for another Enchantress. I have never cursed any prince in my life." she said sweetly.

They all gasped in shock and Adam asked in disbelief, "There are more Enchantresses? Do you know of the one who gave out roses to people?" The Enchantress shook her head slowly and said, "There is only one Enchantress at a time. I believe I may be familiar with the one you're talking about." Adam walked back over to Belle and sat down, stunned. An awkward silence filled the room again until The Enchantress took the hint that she is to speak. "Ooh! Right, the woman you are talking about. You were the prince who became The Beast from denying her entrance when it was cold outside?" Adam nodded his head slowly. The Enchantress perked up and said cheerfully, "Ooh! Oh, that was my predecessor!"

Belle gave her a confused look. "Predecessor? What happened to her?" The Enchantress gave a small smile and said sadly, "Unfortunately, she had passed away a few years back. I was her apprentice." Belle gasped quietly and Adam took a sharp inhale at the news. The Guard just sat mouth agape the entire time. Adam said carefully, "Is it alright of me to ask what had happened to her?" The Enchantress walked over to her own chair and sat down elegantly. With a sigh, she said, "She was making her rounds guarding in a forest, transformed as a doe, when she was hunted and killed relentlessly by a hunter for game. I did not see whom, but the animals told me it was a man with a red shirt, black hair, and blue eyes."

 _Gaston,_ thought Belle, scrunching her nose. The Enchantress continued, "The animals tried to get him away from her body, but he was persistent. I would tell more, but that's **another story to tell*.** " "I'm...sorry for your loss, Madame." said Belle wholeheartedly. The Enchantress nodded slowly. Adam added in, "Pardon me, Enchantress, if you don't mind if we move on to the issue at hand." The Enchantress smiled wide, but calmly, and said softly, "Please, you may call me Piano." "Piano?" parroted Prince Adam. "It's another long story, but I grew up in a household with poor parents and a brother. I always had a gift of being charming and benevolent. He had always been left in the shadows. Long story short, I was found by the former Enchantress, and she needed a successor. So here I am!" squeaked Piano. She cleared her throat and said calmly, "My apologies. I still can get overly excited sometimes. I have been taught to stay elegant and level-headed, but my old perky habits kick in every now and then."

Belle chuckled. "Just be yourself, Enchant-er Piano. People will love you for who you are, not who you pretend to be." Piano just smiled wide, eyes closed. "Now, what seems to be the problem, Your Majesties?" said Piano in a serious, yet gentle tone. Adam said, "There is a servant at my castle who I-we all-once thought died after he tried to destroy the castle while still enchanted. He still has his powers from being a pipe organ and now plans something terrible to do to my wife, Belle, and our unborn child." Piano furrows her slender eyebrows, eyes narrowed, and said firmly, "How terrible. Why does he have a vendetta out on your wife and child?" Adam looked down, then up to Piano and said, "Originally, it was because he wanted to prevent me from falling in love, breaking the spell. He wanted to stay a pipe organ forever. Now it's because he's been alive for over a year after the enchantment has lifted, and not one of us went down there to see if his body was there, or if he was alive."

Piano rose up from her chair and walked to the wall adjacent to her seat to where there are books and potions on the table. "Hmm, I can either seal up his powers or end him for good, so which is your objective?" she said. Adam and Belled looked at each other, then back at Piano. "I want to rid him of his powers, so he can be safely apprehended." Piano nodded and then said, "I will create a jar that will seal his powers upon opening it, but in order for it to work, I must know this man's name."

"His name is Forte." said Adam without hesitation. Piano gasped and turned to Adam and Belle. Adam, Belle, and The Guard became quickly worried about The Enchantress's sudden alarm. "Oh no. There's no mistake," she whispered, eyes wide. "What's wrong, Piano?" said Belle, standing up. Quietly, Piano huffed, "It has to be. That's my brother."

 ***Let me know if you're curious to know the story, and I'll make a one-shot story about it (around one chapter long) after this one.**


	8. -The Shadow of Forte-

-The Shadow of Forte-

"No, no, it has to be him," said Piano-The Enchantress-, quietly. Belle and Adam widened eyes in shock. "Your brother?!" they said in unison. The surprised Enchantress nodded. "He was a peculiar one, my brother. It has to be him, because you said his name is Forte AND he was a pipe organ when enchanted? He has a strange love for that instrument, he does. Let me tell you all a little story about our lives..."

~~~  
Forte's Backstory

(Here's a little hint on how to read this next section. The _italic_ section all comprises the backstory. The _**bold italic**_ indicates Piano's voice over the flashbacks. What Piano says and what is stated in the backstory are different, in the sense that the main backstory is seen from Forte's perspective, which contains information Piano does not know and will not say to her guests. That is for you, the reader, to know. The voice over is Piano actually telling the story of what _she_ knows to them from her perspective. Without further ado, enjoy the backstory!)

 _Genoa, Italy_

 _It was summertime and most of the children were outside playing together. "You have done a good job helping me, Piano!" chirped the mother, Adagio. A young Piano grinned from ear to ear and said gleefully, "I always want to help you out, Mama!" She wore a simple green dress with puffed short sleeves. Nearby, a rather reserved, pale, and skinny young boy sat near the window and overlooked the other children play. He wore a white shirt with short sleeves and small white ruffled cravat around his neck. His dark brown pants were down past his knees and slightly puffed. Piano walked over to him after Adagio left the room and said sweetly, "Come on, fratello," The boy's dull pinpoint eyes met her beautiful blue ones. "No one wants to play with me," he said glumly. He turned back to face the window._

 _ **"My brother was always a rather shy one. He almost never goes outside, only when I really persuade him. I feel he has became that way, due to the amount of attention I get that he never receives from our parents." said Piano. "So one day, I pleaded with him to play with one of my friends and he said-"**_

 _"But they're girls!" exclaimed the little boy. "Y-you know how flustered I get a-around...g-girls." Piano looked at him with a funny face. "You don't get flustered around me, Forte. How about you go make some friends of your own then? You'll do fine!" Forte turned around completely, back to the window. "But you're my sister, Piano." He then said doubtfully, "Besides, it's awfully hot outside, and they look like they're already having fun without me-" "Then they'll have even more fun with one more person!" said Piano, pulling him up. "Alright, fine," he said at last._

 _ **"I pulled him up and we headed outside together. Kind of. I was in front of him, leading the way so he'll feel more relaxed than being in front first. I may be the youngest, but I am also the bravest. I think it's because of my personality that they ended up teasing my poor brother."**_

 _"Ciao, Piano!" said numerous children endearingly. Everyone seemed to adore her. Some didn't even notice Forte following behind her, or they just chose not to. Despite being older, he was shorter then his sister at the time. One boy shouted out, "Hey, look at The Ugly Duckling following the princess!" all eyes were drawn to the sickly pale boy and a few kids laughed. Piano became irritated, while Forte became embarrassed and tried to go back inside, but Piano grabbed his hand. "Hey kid! It's not nice to call people names!" she scolded the boy. The kids stopped laughing and all 'oohed' the scolded boy._

 _ **Piano looked down. "I told him off, I did, but it wasn't the end of it."**_

 _Forte cautiously approached a couple of kids jumping up and down and asked sheepishly, "C-can I play with you a-all?" He tried to grin, but the other kids were put off. Forte looked back to find his sister, but she too busy playing with her friends. "You're so weird," said one of the girls in the group. He turned red and walked off to the next group. "Don't come near us, strano." said one of the boys who saw Forte coming. "Yeah you skinny weirdo, don't play with us." said a girl. Forte got redder and shouted, "PIANO! They're calling me names again!" "Oh look at the little bambino calling out for his YOUNGER sister!" said the kid who was scolded earlier, approaching Forte. "Leave these kids alone, ghost boy! You're scaring everyone with your pale ugly self!"_

 _ **"I was so involved with my friends that I did not know my brother was in need of help, until I heard him burst out loud crying all of a sudden. I then saw him run off towards the chapel in our town. I wanted to go after him, but I felt it was my fault for bringing him out in the first place."**_

 _Forte ran all the way to church, and went inside the chapel, as it was always open. He ran to the pew on the right hand side to the very front, sat down on the farthest right, and wept quietly. He sat there for around 20 minutes alone, before a man in a white church garment appeared from a side door near the front of the chapel and saw the boy. Sensing his despair, he walked calmly over to Forte and asked, "What's wrong boy? No one should be sad in The Lord's house." Forte wiped away any remaining tears that didn't dried yet. Stifling, he said, "I-I can't m-make any friends, a-and when I t-tried," Forte tried to hold back from crying, but he wailed, fresh tears falling, "They were picking on meeeee!" Forte began crying again. "Sssh, hush child. I'll ease your aching heart," said the man quietly, and he got up._

 _He walked over to the organ in the front of the chapel and sat down on the bench. He then pressed on several keys and a uproarious hum began to play. Holding the notes, the man looked back to see Forte, eye wide and mouth agape, looking back at the man. The man released the notes and let the silence fill the room for a literal second before playing a piece. Forte watched the man in wonder at the instrument before him. It was loud, bold, confident. Everything Forte wished to be was in the form of the pipe organ. The music bounced around the somewhat small room, echoed hauntingly into Forte's ears. He sat motionless in shock and awe until the man finished playing his piece._

 _"Wow..." was all Forte could say. The man turned and smiled, sliding over and gesturing for him to sit next to him. Cautiously, Forte got up and walked slowly towards the bench and sat down next to him. The man leaned to the left to pick up something and presented it to the timid boy. "Painfully shy, are we?" he chuckled, handing him a new handkerchief. "Keep it," he said, smiling. Forte blew his nose into it, folded it up, wiped his tears with his sleeve again, and said meekly, "Grazie, signore." Forte, now feeling a little better, asked the man, "How do you play so well? What is this big thing?"_

 _"I'm the church's organist. I play the organ, hence my title." said the organist. "Oh," Forte drawled. A glint of wonder flashed in his eyes for a moment. "Can... can I play it?" he asked hesitantly. The organist nodded and gestured to the keys. Forte felt intimidated by the sheer size of the instrument. He looked up and stared in awe. Fear. Slowly, he pressed one key and held the note, drinking in the heavy sound of the instrument. To him, it was intoxicating, addictive. He hungered for more. He pressed another key. Then another. Soon, he tried to mimic the hand patterns of the organist when he played his piece, but hit a sour note several seconds in._

 _"You seem to learn fast, bambino," the organist stated, amused. "Would you like me to teach you?" Forte looked shocked momentarily and said timidly, "But my family is poor; we won't have money for lessons." The organist laughed softly and said, "No son, the lessons will be for free." Forte pondered on this man's offer. He'd really want to just experiment on the organ and figure it out on his own. It certainly beats playing with the children outside, as they don't want his company. Forte kindly said, "No thank you. Really, I appreciate that you want to teach me, but I want to discover the music within myself. Is it okay for me to practice on this organ?"_

 _The organist smiled and said firmly, "Absolutely. Only when it's not in use and the chapel is empty." Forte felt a swell of emotion bubbling up and bursting through his chest, exclaiming, "Oh grazie! Grazie, signore!" He hugged the tightly and ran off, just noticing it's sundown. "Come back anytime, young prodigy!" shouted the man. "I will!" squeaked Forte before leaving the chapel._

 _ **"I knew he was gone for quite some time, and I saw the the sun was setting. I decided to check on him just as my father said, 'Come on in, Piano! Supper's ready!' 'But what about-' I said, but was cut off. My father, Allegro, said 'Your friends need to go home too, don't worry about them!' So I walked back inside and ate with my parents. I felt bad for my brother. They don't seem to notice that Forte was missing. We were just getting done with supper when he came through the door, smiling brightly. He eventually told me about his newfound love with the pipe organ, and how he received permission to play on it." said Piano. She paused, thinking back on the memories and seeing her brother smile. "And he was...happy."**_


	9. -Welcome Home-

-Welcome Home-

"Then what happened?" said Adam, eager to hear more of the story. Piano shook her head and said, "I've said enough for now. Time is of the essence, and you need to save him. As for the story, he mostly spent his time since then going to the cathedral to practice. Every time he would go outside, he'd get picked on, and he would ignore them. He had developed a nasty habit of bottling things up until he couldn't handle it anymore, which is what happened one day. All the other kids were afraid of him at that point. In fact, it was one of the reasons we moved to France." Prince Adam and Princess Belle shifted slightly. "I fear this may also be the reason for his rage, but it seems persistent this time. This enchantment will do the trick." Piano turned around to the table and began enchanting a bland clay jar with a separate lid. She waves her hands, and it glowed a bright blue hue, lifting into the air before falling back down gently with a new imprinted design on it. It depicted green and blue stained glass roses on it, with a light blue background, and black glass framing the top and bottom around the jar. Then she made another little wave of her hand and the jar glowed pink briefly.

Belle noticed the different colored glow, but kept silent. Adam looked around the room and down to his feet. The Guard kept his gaze on the door and windows. Next, Piano grabbed two necklaces with a gray stone attached to it hanging from the wall and dipped both inside the jar until the stones glowed white. She lifted the necklaces up out the jar and closed the lid, hung them on her left wrist, and picked up the jar while she instructed her guests, "Follow me." They all got up and followed her outside. It was daybreak. After the ordeal with the giant bird, there was no way anyone was going back to sleep again. Belle said, "What did you do? At the end I mean, because it glowed again." Piano said hushed, "It's a little secret in case something doesn't go right." "What do you mean missus?" said The Guard. "Only time will tell, maybe it will never be needed." Piano replied. "These will protect you from his magic." Piano then placed the necklaces around Belle and Adam. Adam said with concern, "Forte has the ability to control those he blasts with his music. Will it protect us from that?" "Of course it will. And now a little something for The Guard here," Piano said as she placed her left hand on Belle's stone, and her hand on Adam's, then touched The Guard's armor until it was coated in a slight glittery shine.

There was a disturbance in a nearby bush, and it drew the attention of the group. Piano reassured, "It was some of the critters stirring awake." Adam sighed then looked down at the stone, then looked to Piano and said sternly, "How do we use this jar properly?" " _If_ you need to use it. As I've said before, You must open the jar to seal his powers away. The catch is you must be close enough in range, around five feet or so, and must proclaim the name of the one whose powers you will seal away. Since this jar is for Forte, it will not work on anyone else, even if they have powers." Belle held her stone delicately and said, "How will the jar know to seal Forte's powers?" Piano raised the jar and said, "The stones will search for any magic around the castle. Once detected, the stones will resonate with the jar and focus only on that type of magic. My magic is primarily blue, but since I'm the one that enchanted the jar and stones, it will not detect my magic."

"Oh," Belle and Adam drawled out. Piano nodded and held out the jar. "Please, take this," she stated, as The Guard reaches out for it. She brought back the jar to her body and said to The Guard, "The prince or princess, please. You're only protected from the effects of Forte's current magic around the castle once the stones activate. The stones on them will protect against any blasts of his powers too. I have limited powers, and cannot completely protect you too." The Guard simply bowed slightly and returned his arms to his side. "So he can't touch it?" Adam said. "He can, but in the event that it's in his possession when he gets hit by my brother's powers, you will not have any defense left against him. One of you two must be holding it because the stone will protect you." Adam reached for the jar and grabbed it carefully. "Now it's best you don't drop it before OR after you seal his powers. And most importantly, don't point it at him for too long." Piano said gravely. Concern plastered the royals faces as they said together curiously, "What will happen?" "It's best you don't know, and I don't want to happen." said Piano, expression softened.

"Well! There you are!" Piano said cheerfully, lightening the mood and gestured to the forest in front of them as the trees parted to reveal the castle in the distance. The guests were stunned as to see the castle so close. "My location moves, as to not be found easily by many who hunt enchantresses. For some reason, silly rumors had been passed around about killing one grants you immortality or that we're all evil witches or something, it's stupid. And far from the truth. Only though, from what I was taught, some were quite mean, but not evil. There may be more, but as far as I'm concerned, I am the only one around here." "Oh but our carriage-" Belle started. "-is waiting outside this forest!" said Piano, leading them to the horses and the carriage. "Thank you so much for your help, Enchantress." said Adam humbly. "Thank you Piano," said Belle sweetly. She groaned as a pinch of pain waved across her abdomen. She bent over and clutched her stomach tightly. "Oh no, is it the young princ-er?" Piano said quickly before stopping abruptly. She covered her mouth and widened her eyes. "We don't know if it's a boy or a girl," said Adam to Piano, supporting Belle. "I think it's just air passing," strained Belle. The pain subsided and Belle got up again. Then Belle grew white.

"Oh no, the baby hasn't moved in a while, what if-!" She said worriedly. She looked down just as she felt a little kick-like thump on the right side. Then the pain came back. "Oh, it wasn't air, the baby _was_ moving!" Belle sighed, then smiled with relief as the pain subsided again. "By the way, was it you who meddled with our dreams into realistic nightmares? I mean, you did come almost _immediately_ after that bird was defeated." said Adam. Belle gave him a confused look. Piano said confused, "No, I only sensed peril from a distance and came to observe when the town was already cheering its defeat. I fear he may be getting stronger at a much faster rate. In any case, it should still seal his powers no matter how strong." Adam gave a quiet, "Oh. I thought you were maybe testing us, or something."

Then he had a remembered Piano's incomplete question. "Wait, what were you going to say? Is our baby a-" said Adam suspiciously. "Oh, will you look at that castle there! Best be on your way, Your Majesties!" said Piano quickly, avoiding the question. The Guard and Adam helped Belle into the carriage outside of the forest. Adam got on his horse after placing the jar into a bag that was strapped to his steed. The Guard then placed it next to Belle inside the carriage before getting on top to direct the other horses. "Take care!" Piano said, waving. She glowed into a white light and faded away into a ball of light. The cottage behind her slowly vanished, and the trees closed in the gap in the forest, reverting back to it normal state.

~~~  
Earlier...

 _Fife was walking down the road, mumbling to himself. "Humpf! Why do I have to carry out tasks for him again? W-well, at least he d-didn't try to control me l-like the others..." He chuckled nervously._ Maybe he still trusts me after all, _thought Fife. Suddenly, a path opened up in the woods nearby and Fife jumped at the sight. Quickly, he dashed into a nearby bush on the opposite side, and waited. A house materialized inside and a carriage with two horses and a stand alone horse with a bag strapped on slowly appeared into the street. He waited with fascination, completely forgetting his objective as he watched on in awe until something happens._

 _He was near ready to give up and go back to the castle, ashamed of being distracted and having to confront the other Maestro, when a woman with black hair and a green and blue gown on came out. Fife, under the cover of breaking dawn, crept to the other side and crouched in the bushes carefully to gaze at the woman's inhuman beauty. Then shortly after, Belle and Adam with a guard came out. Fife finally remembered his objective, but he still doesn't want to go through with betraying them again._ What do I do? _thought Fife. He sat and listened to what the beautiful woman was saying. "...maybe it will never be needed." Fife listened intently after witnessing the woman putting necklaces on Belle and Adam and placing her hands on the guard until his armor glowed white a bit. Fife gasped quietly. "The Enchantress!" he whispered hoarsely. Curious, Fife tried to creep closer in through the bushes, then stumbled and fell a bit, causing a noise and woke up some chipmunks in the trees. Fife froze when he saw everyone turn into his direction, but it was still too dark in the woods to see. "It was some of the critters stirring awake." the woman replied. Fife sighed then got up when they turned around._

 _"How do we use this jar properly?" asked Prince Adam. The Enchantress replied, "_ If _you need to use it. As I've said before, You must open the jar to seal his powers away. The catch is you must be close enough in range, around five feet or so, and must proclaim the name of the one whose powers you will seal away. Since this jar is for Forte, it will not work on anyone else, even if they have powers." Fife then had an idea, not paying attention to anymore of the converstation. Grinning slyly, he crept slowly away back towards the castle to await Adam and Belle's return._

~~~

As Belle, Adam, and The Guard neared the castle gates, they noticed it was open. Last time, when they escaped the castle, the gates were trying to close them in. Adam slowed his horse to a stop, which prompted the other horse to do the same. "Stand guard, he expects us to return." said Adam authoritatively. "But won't we be protected, Your Highness?" said The Guard. Adam adjusted his horse to turn so he can face adjacent to the carriage. "Especially you Philippe, you are not protected from him attacking you directly." said Adam. "Philippe?" said Belle sticking her head out of the window. Belle then remembered their conversation at the inn. _"Thank you, uh, what's your name?" "Please Your Majesty, no need to learn my name. I am only here to serve you." Philippe,_ she thought, smiling. "You...you know my name, Your Highness?" said Philippe. "I know the names of everyone in the castle." Adam said, smiling. Philippe was humbled. "It is an honor to know my name is worthy of remembering."

Out of the nearby bushes of the gate, Fife came out waving, seemingly panicked. "Prince Adam! Princess Belle! I'm so glad to see you, but it's still not safe here!" he shouted, running towards them. Royal Guard Philippe jumped down from the carriage and drew his sword. "Stand down, Philippe. I don't think's he under Forte's control." Adam said coolly. Philippe withdrew his sword into the hilt. Fife continued, "Why have you come back? Won't he capture you and the Princess?" Adam gave him a steely gaze and said confidently, "We have seen The Enchantress. We'll be protected. Now, take us to him." Fife gulped and said timidly, "O-ok, Your Highness. Is it alright to ac-c-company Princess B-Belle?" Adam tossed his right hand back, gesturing to accompany Belle in the carriage. Happy, Fife exclaimed, "Oh thank you! Thank! YOU!" And was pulled by the collar as Adam asked, "But first, explain how you escaped from Forte's control."

"Oh, I never was under his control. I w-was h-h-hiding in a closet away from the music." Adam nodded gently and let him go. He cautiously made his way to Belle in the carriage and sat next to the bag in the seat, careful not to step on the pot of flowers at his feet. Upon looking at Belle, he blushed as he waved sheepishly when she smiled. Adam turned the horse again to face the gates and commanded the horse to move. At full speed, they were all returning to the castle, stones glowing bright, then turning green.

~~~

Forte was playing on the organ when one of the servants opened his door. Forte stopped playing from hearing the creaking doors and demanded, "To what do I owe the disturbance of my practice?" he drawled, turning slowly. Monotonous and expressionless, the glowing-eyed servant simply said, "They're coming." Forte momentarily widened his eyes in shock, but then relaxed and said smoothly, "I'll be right up, and do give my guests..." There was a long pause. "...a _warm_ welcome."

~~~

The carriage parked right outside the entrance to the castle, near the stairs. Fife got out the left side so he can walk around and help Belle out the right side, but Philippe helped her out first and closed the door. Adam just unmounted his horse when a mob of castle residents with torches came outside slowly. Their eyes all glowed an emerald green. _At least I now know Fife isn't under Forte's control,_ thought Prince Adam. Fife panicked and said stuttering, "Wait! D-don't c-come an-nn-ny clos-s-ser!" He held out his arms as high as he could. "Remember that this is Princess Belle and Prince Adam h-here! I know you all c-can hear m-me." Somehow, the residents seemed to respond to Fife's plea and retreated. "I, I think I did it!" exclaimed Fife, smiling. "Actually, I think it's the stones that protected us, Fife." Adam explained, pointing to the humming, green stone around his neck. "Oh," said Fife, disappointed. He pouted a little and looked down, upset.

"I didn't even noticed it changed color," remarked Belle looking down at hers. She just remembered the jar in the bag still in the carriage. "Oh! I need to get the bag!" she exclaimed, turning around. "I got it!" Fife brought out the bag from behind the carriage. "I grabbed it in case you forgot it; I-I didn't mean to m-make you worry!" Belle gave him that oh-you look and said softly, "Thank you Fife. I don't know what'd I'd do without you." Adam gave rise to a hint of suspicion, but disregards it for now. _Something doesn't feel right,_ thought Adam. _But I just don't know what._

They followed Fife up the stairs and into the main foyer. There was no one in sight. Then Adam had a thought. "Wait a minute, Fife. How did you leave the castle when everyone was under Forte's control?" Fife didn't respond nor looked back. Alarmed, Adam yelled, "It's a tra-!" Fife quickly grabbed Belle's stone and snatched off her necklace, breaking it. Adam, with quicker reflexes, dodged Fife just in time when he grabbed for the bag Belle was holding. Philippe stood as close to Belle as possible in an effort to protect her. "FIIIIIFE!" Adam roared in anger. He opened the bag to find only a regular flower pot. He went pale as a cold shiver went down his spine. Suddenly, they were surrounded as Fife slipped past them to run out the door. Adam moved closer to Belle and Philippe as the crowd closes in. "Hello, Master," drawled a familiar voice. Coming from the left hand side of the foyer, towards the West Wing, was Forte. He drew nearer with a sly smirk and hands behind his back as the crowd parted.

"and welcome home..."


	10. -A Desperate Plea-

-A Desperate Plea-

"My, my, what a lovely piece around your neck, Master," teased Forte, inching towards Adam. "Mind if I take a-SSSSS AAHHH!" he hissed at the contact with the stone, vibrating madly to Forte's proximity. "Stop this NOW, Forte!" Belle demanded. Forte's eyes softened as he formed his lips into a small 'O' shape, very amused at Belle's demeanor. "Now, now, _Princess,_ " he drawled. "You're in no position to talk, as I don't see a stone around _your_ pretty little neck." Philippe drew his sword when Forte inched closer to Belle and stated firmly, "That's close enough." "Ooh, touchy. I'm scaaared!" he said sarcastically clasping his hands together. He chuckled evilly.

"That's because I got her stone off, Maestro!" said Fife as he rushed in, carrying the enchanted jar in his left arm. "That's-!" Adam started. "Uh-huh!" exclaimed Fife. "It's your special jar!" He held it in the air, along with the stone with the snapped necklace string. "Hey Maestro, when I was walking along, I saw the forest opening up to reveal them along with The Enchantress! I overheard them talking about how the stones protect a-against your m-magic." said Fife. Belle, Adam, and Philippe flinched at Fife's know about. Forte was actually stunned Fife did something useful. "Well done, Fife! I knew I could still count on you!" "You eavesdropping worm!" growled Royal Guard Philippe, gripping the hilt tightly. "So you were the one making a disturbance in the bushes," added Adam.

"I thought I saw someone," said Belle sadly. "It was still dark, but I could've sworn I saw a silhouette of a man crouched. These past months I haven't been able to trust my senses, I should have spoken up." "It's not your fault, Belle," Adam reassured Belle. "Don't trust him, Fife! He betrayed you once with a promise of a solo, remember? Don't make the same mistake!" said Adam boldly. Fife then paused to choose his next words carefully. "I _also_ heard that this jar here was going to be used to suck you in, trapping you. Maybe we can use it on _Belle_ instead."

The group was shocked, not out of reaction, but of confusion since Piano told them that the jar only works for Forte. The group is unclear if Fife never fully heard Piano's instructions, or if he's purposefully deceiving Forte. Forte noticed the group's surprise and said mockingly, "Oh, you were going to seal me away? I didn't hate you that much!" He feigned a little pout. Then his face went back to smirking smugly as he said, "Take Belle to the boiler room." The controlled servants closed in on the group, but Philippe started swinging his sword, making them back away. "Don't hurt them, Philippe!" said Prince Adam, alarmed. "I need to protect the princess at all costs, Your Highness." Forte curled his lips up in disgust, but noticed Philippe does not have a necklace on too, but the armor appeared very shiny. Forte's hands glowed green as he waved his left hand out, shooting a music sheet blast towards him. Adam jumped in front of him and the blast was negated. "Grrrgh! How annoying!" he fumed.

Forte turned to Fife with no emotion. "Destroy the jar," Forte commanded. "A-actually, I have a better idea. I'll be in boiler room, and you tag team the rest of them!" Fife replied, running off into the boiler room below the kitchen. Forte understood what Fife was talking about. He then commanded the servants, "Take them!" The servants reluctantly started approaching them again, and just as Forte was about to blast all of them in an effort to get Belle and Philippe, he was smacked in the head with a golden goblet. "Ow, what the-?" Forte turned around to see Angelique and Fifi above the stairs, coming out from the East Wing. "Oh? There was more of you hiding?" he drawled with irritation. "Oh, there is more where that came from, freakshow!" shouted Angelique, throwing another goblet. Forte deflected it easy. "Don't think you can distract _me,_ Angelique!" he shouted as he slung a blast of energy towards them before turning around. They dodged, and Fifi threw a small silver candelabrum with acute accuracy and speed, and it hit Forte dead in the back of his head. "That was for Lumière!" Fifi shouted. Caught off-guard, he fell forward and was knocked out momentarily.

Meanwhile, as the servants closed in, Adam said to Philippe, "Withdraw your sword and hold on to me!" Adam hugged Princess Belle and Royal Guard Philippe tight just as a few servants grabbed for them, including Lumière. They all shut their eyes tight just as the stone reacted to the proximity of Forte's magic, and a white ball of light expelled around the group. It grew large enough to completely cover them then exploded outward to the entire room, knocking everyone down around them.

Slowly, one by one, the servants and maidservants got up and looked around in a daze. Lumière and Cogsworth got up at the same time and rubbed their heads. "LUMI! You're okay!" shrieked Fifi, as she rushed downstairs, sped towards him and smooched him passionately. Lumière was still confused, but he kissed back anyway. "What happened, my fair mademoizelle?" said Lumière lightly. "Ze last thing I remembered waz getting hit by Forte and you running away. He didn't hurt you, non?" He looked down in anger at Forte.

"I'm alright my love! Mrs. Potts and Chip are fine too! Angelique came just in time to open the attic up and we all hid inside, blocking out any music from being heard." Lumière's expression relaxed. Angelique came down to help up any servants that were still dazed on the floor. Lumière rushed to Angelique and kissed her left hand, saying, "Oh, merci! Merci beaucoup!" Angelique snatched her hand away and said flatly, "Yeah, it was nothing. I had no idea what was going on, then all of a sudden we were under attack!" Cogsworth groaned and said drowsily, "Is it nighttime already?" One of the servants just noticed that it was still dark outside and ran out. Though it was daytime everywhere else, there are dark clouds that still hang overhead the castle. "There are dark clouds above us!" he yelled.

Adam and the group opened their eyes at the sound of familiar, friendly voices. "Cogsy!" exclaimed Lumière. "Lumière," said Cogsworth glumly. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you." "It iz ok now, mon amie, now we all need to run; Forte's stirring into consciousnezz." Everyone looked down as Forte was slowly moving his head and arms, groaning. Everyone scrambled to get away as Adam, Belle, and Philippe ran off towards the kitchen to get Fife. Forte growled lowly as he blasted towards the group. Though it had no effect on Adam, it made him trip. "Get Belle to Fife! We need that jar!" shouted Adam and tossed his stone to Philippe. Philippe placed it on Belle as they ran away.

Adam turned around just in time for Forte to pin him down and grab the collar of his shirt. "You won't give up, _will_ you, Master?!" He gritted between his teeth. His mouth was dripping blood. Adam widened his eyes with concern as he said softly, "Forte, you're bleeding." Forte's eyes narrowed into slits as he hissed, "What difference does it make now?! You never seemed to care before! Just a minute ago you told them to get the jar!" Adam started to feel panic rising, but he said calmly, "Look, I never intend to use it unless you're unwilling to talk to me. It's just extra security." Forte scoffed. "Talk to you?!" He snickered. "Oh, that's rich. _Now_ you just want to _talk?_ You have the instrument of my doom made by The Enchantress herself, and now you just _want to talk?!_ " He started chuckling softly, then it increased into a maniacal bellow.

Adam gazed at him in fear. "You're mad!" he whispered. Forte stopped and looked down at Adam. "YEAH, I'M MAD!" he roared. Then he lowered his face down completely on Adam, face to face as he said quietly, "And why do think I am so?" Adam was visibly uncomfortable. Being this close, especially to a potentially psychotic man, can bring about discomfort. They waited in awkward silence for a time. " _Well?_ " he drawled quietly, with undertones of irritation. He got off of Adam, got up, and turned around. "Of course you wouldn't say anything. You _never_ do." Adam got up and said glumly to Forte, "Actually, I have something to confess."

Intrigued, but still angry, Forte slowly turned around to hear what Adam has to say. "Let me just start off by saying sorry. I'm sorry, Forte. For hurting your feelings." For the first time in a long time, Forte felt a pang of an unclear emotion. Regret? Forgiveness? _What is this feeling?_ he thought to himself. Though his eyes softened, his lips remained firm. He rubbed the back of his head and winced a bit. Adam continued, "Please, just leave Belle out of this. Leave my child out of this, my _unborn child._ If you have to punish anyone, it's me. I'm the one who hurt you, not Belle. Not the child." There was water in Adam's eyes.

Forte shifted and looked down. "And?" he said softly, not caring. Adam said, "Let's start from the beginning. I-I know I was a brat in the castle. I...stopped coming in for your lessons because of disinterest. Your lessons only had deary music." "My music reflects my inner feelings," Forte retorted. "Then why does it sound so sad?! What did I do then?! I barely remember a time when you actually played _happy_ music!" Forte looked at Adam. He didn't look angry anymore. Just melancholy. "It wasn't your fault, Adam. It was about your parents."

~~~

Belle and Philippe went into the kitchen to look for the door to the boiler room. "Where could the boiler room be?" said Belle. "I have no idea, Your Majesty. My apologies." "It's alright, Philippe. Say, Why didn't you want me to know your name back at the inn? I only heard Adam call you out by name just an hour ago." Philippe looked around the kitchen for all the doors, and opening them as he said, "I figured, Your Majesty, that you wouldn't need to trouble yourself in remembering my name. I'm just a nobody servant of the Royal Guards." Belle placed her hand gently on the left side of his pauldron and smiled. "You're not a nobody. Everybody counts for something, because everyone has a purpose in life, even if they don't know it yet." Philippe nodded in agreement. "Which is why we must help Forte. We have to save him, but if he won't listen to reason, then his powers will be taken away so that he _can_ listen."

Philippe found an iron door in the back of the kitchen and heaved it open. He stood back and looked down the stairs. "This is heavy to push, even for me. There's no way Fife made it past this door." said Philippe, panting. Belle was making her way over to him when a blur of brown brushed past her and towards Philippe. It was Fife. Philippe tried to block him by moving in the way, but the armor slowed his reflexes, and Fife narrowly dodged him down the stairs. "Quick! After him!" proclaimed Belle. They raced him downstairs, with Belle falling behind, heaving. "I, I'll catch up Philippe. I need a breath. This is too much for me to go through right now!" Hesitant, he followed orders and continued pursuit.

Belle eventually made it down the stairs, after what seemed like several minutes of pausing and resuming. She heard banging earlier, but the noise longed ceased. She opened the second door down there and walked in, but it was very hot in the room. "Philippe! Fife!" Belle echoed in the vast boiler room. The unbearable heat made it hard to keep her eyes open as sweat threatened to fall in. Belle slowed down and rested her hands on her knees as she tried to breathe. It was too hot for her to handle down here, and it's slowly taking its toll. Belle slid down to the floor to find any relief from the heat, but even the concrete was very warm to the touch. Belle crawled miserably to the nearest wall and cried out as loud as she can muster, "Philippe! Fife! Anyone?!" No answer. Exhausted, parched, and overheating, Belle began to feel dizzy. "Fife...why...?" she mumbled as she passed out.


	11. -Final Confrontation-

-Final Confrontation-

 **(A/N: This is NOT the last chapter! :D)**

"M-my parents?" stuttered Adam. "What does my parents have to do with all this?" Forte took a sharp inhale/exhale and coughed as a result, but no more blood showed. He wiped what little did fell from his mouth, but only ended up smearing it a bit, as the rest already dried. Clearing his throat, Forte said hoarsely, "I became somber after the death of your parents." "Wait, what?" Adam gasped, eyes widened. Clearing his throat again, Forte spoke clearly, "Let me explain. I had a long period of depression in my time before coming to the castle. Though considered a Maestro and musical genius, I was not sought after. I went from here, to Italy, Spain, and back here in France again searching for someone with an interest for pipe organ music, as it was my specialty."

Forte paused when Adam shifted his footing, but showed Forte he remained attentive. He nodded to him, indicating he wants him to continue his story. "Should we...find somewhere to sit, Master?" His voice was a softer tone than before. Adam walked into the dining room and Forte followed. "We can sit in here," said Adam. "Very well then," Forte replied. They sat in the nearest chairs and Forte continued with his side of the story. "Though I could compose music scores for other instruments, no one had wanted composition for organ music. Even the churches I went to already had organists." he grumbled. He straightened up in the chair, and once again continued. "That is until one day, the very King and Queen themselves sought out a need for an organist, as they had an organ installed, but the then-current court composer had passed away."

"But what of my parents?" Adam asked politely. Forte held up a finger, saying, "In a minute. I was tasked to play a piece on their organ and they loved it. And so the castle had a new court composer, moi." He gave himself a half smile, but it faded just as quickly as it came. "I was grateful to them, King Abraham and Queen Ethel. Then a few months later, you came along." Adam tensed in anticipation of hostility, but Forte gave no sign of it. "It was...one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. They were amazing parents to you. They even thought highly of me as to make me an honorary guardian or something." He chuckled, but it faded as he said somberly, "Then one day, Queen Ethel became sick. It was so sudden and severe that she succumbed to it days later. There was nothing anyone could do."

Adam looked up at a portrait above Forte and saw the royal couple, side by side with soft expressions. The Queen wore a red and gold gown with puffed sleeves at the shoulders, extending down to her wrists. She had a white ruffled collar and red, white, and gold fascinator on her head. She was extremely fair with long auburn hair, green eyes, and dark red lips. The King had a blue shirt on with a red cape trimmed with white hanging from his shoulders. He had brown short hair, mustache, and beard with blue eyes. Each wore a golden crown adorned in an assortment of jewels and pearls. Forte turned in his seat and looked up at what Adam was staring at. He then said monotonously, "Not even four months later, the King died from a broken heart." Forte turned back around to Adam and Adam looked back to Forte.

Forte looked down as they both sat in silence. He continued, "They were such wonderful parents to you, Master. Parents I could only ever dream of." Prince Adam then remembered Piano's story. "Allegro and Adagio?" he asked. Forte paled in shock in hearing his parent's names. "H-how did-?!" "I met your sister, Forte. She's the Enchantress now." Forte sat there, eyes wide and mouth agape. "Impossible!" he shouted. "She's off doing her own concerto or something, what do you mean she's the Enchantress now?!" Adam sat and explained his encounter with Piano. After Adam finished, Forte sat quietly, looking down. "That sounds like Piano, all right," he mumbled. "Always the favorite. You know your parents don't love you when their ONLY son is missing, firstborn at that, and they never seemed to notice."

"Missing?" repeated Adam. "Other than the story Piano told you about me coming home so late, I've tried running off, to see if they even _cared_ I was gone." Forte said venomously. "Only Piano was concerned, and even though she keeps telling me Ma and Pa missed me, whenever I came home, they would only assumed I went outside to play. Really now! And that's including my OWN FATHER forgetting my name! He called me Fermata once! How do you forget you own son's name?!" Forte raised his voice in anger. He simmered down, taking deep breaths as he closed his eyes. He opened his eyes and became placid. "But that's another story, for another time." he said at last, calmly. "Now it's your turn."

~~~~  
Earlier...

 _Philippe chased Fife down the winding stairs down to the boiler room. Fife closed the door at the bottom behind him and barricaded it with nearby supplies. He then proceeds to overload every furnace down there by stuffing it with an innumerable amount of wood. Fife can hear the banging on the door as he frantically looks for an escape. He runs all the way to the other side of the room,  
just as he heard shouts behind him. The guard broke down the barricade and got in. Panicked, he ran to the other exit door and closes it behind him and went up the stairs. Philippe saw a door just close and went through that door._

He raced upstairs as fast as he could, but going through the hot room and wearing the heavy armor proved too much for Philippe as he collapsed on the floor, just at the top of the stairs. Fife exited the door and into the other side of the kitchen. He snucked around to see if the coast is clear, then headed back into the dining hall. Upon hearing voices, he went up under the tables to catch his breath and keep hidden, jar still intact in his arms.

"With?" Adam asked, confused. "Your turn to tell your end of the story, Master. Why have you not come down to the West Wing basement after all this time? A year, Master? Really?" Forte said flatly. He began showing visible signs of anger, but it's very subtle. Adam sighed and said, "I want to start off by saying that you are my friend, Forte. Or was, I don't know." Forte didn't budge or make a sound, so Adam continued. "I began to feel doubts that you were ever my friend, because of the fact you tried so hard to keep me away from Belle, from falling in love." "I felt unwanted by you after you stopped coming in for lessons." Forte interrupted. "You were the only link left to the King and Queen, and for you to ignore me anytime else felt like I was discarded. Avoided. _Invisible._ "

"We were both in the wrong," said Adam. "I didn't come down to see if you were there because I was selfish. I thought only of my own pain from your betrayal, that I didn't once think you were still alive, a traitor, and that you were gone for good. It pained me to know that a friend who betrayed me was back alive or in human form before my eyes. I didn't know what to do. I thought i-it was better to just assume you w-were dead and f-for me to remember...the good times we had." Adam was shaking, tears falling in streams and voice wavering. "I-I didn't know the story of your life, i-if I knew..." Adam's voice was barely audible. "I'm so sorry, Forte. Please forgive me." Adam placed his head in his hands and sobbed quietly. Forte, now expressing grief, scooted his chair next to Adam's and patted his back softly. "I forgive you, Master. I'm also sorry." He said softly while giving him a hug from the side. "Please forgive me too."

"Aw," said Lumière, out of the blue. Startled, Forte got off Adam and tried scooting away, but his chair got caught on the carpet below and him and his chair fell over. "Ow," he groaned, slowly sitting up. Lumière offered his hand to help him to his feet. Forte grabbed his hands and got up with ease. "Thanks," he said looking away. Adam looked up to see many servants gathering in the dining hall. Forte looked at Lumière staring intently at him. "Where _the hell_ did you come from?!" he retorted, blushing deep red. Lumière just kept staring at him. "Stop staring at me, Lumière." he gritted his teeth.

"You can't hide it now, mon amie. You hugged ze prince! Plus, we were all hiding from you, but then it got all quiet and we were all worried." "Humpf!" grunted Forte, folding his arms and looking away. "Are you ok?" said Mrs. Potts as she walked in. "I heard from Angelique that Fifi gave you quite a nasty bump on the head." "He deserved it," added Angelique, following behind Chip. Forte simply glared at her. She glared right back even harder. Mrs. Potts, Chip, Fifi, Lumière, Cogsworth, Angelique, and all the others were gathering around the room, murmuring amongst themselves. Suddenly, a cry rang out from across the room. "PRINCE ADAM COME QUICK! IT'S BELLE!"

Shocked, Adam got up quickly, wiped away tears and ran to the other side of the dining hall, near the kitchen. A servant was carrying Belle in his arms as she laid unconscious. "I found her down in the boiler room." he said as he laid her down. "Oh no..." breathed Forte. "But the boiler room was fine, what happened?" he asked. The servant simply said, "I heard whistles and all sorts of noise, so I went to investigate. Then I found her." Adam got down on the floor and held Belle's head up. "No, she's burning up. Quick, fetch her some water!" he pleaded desperately. "Stay with me Belle," said Adam, new tears falling. "I, I didn't know-how did she-?" Forte started. "She was following me in pursuit of Fife," said Philippe, leaning on another guard helping him walk. "He did this." "Fife?" Forte said confused. There was no way Fife would do something like this.

Just then, Fife popped out from under the table and shouted as loud as he can, close proximity to Forte, "FORTE!" and opened the jar. A vacuum began pulling on Forte, first appearing as green waves leaving his body, then after a while appearing as color trails of him sucking into the jar, all the while Forte screaming. "Fife! Stop, Forte is okay now! We don't need the jar!" Adam said, looking up. He refuses to budge, due to propping up Belle's head, but other tried to pull Forte away from the jar. He's stuck in place, screaming in pain. "FIFE!" Adam demanded, but Fife refused to close it. Cogsworth pushed Fife away, and managed to stop the jar any further. Forte was devoid of color in his face, body pale as death as he held mouth agape and eyelids heavy before collapsing. "Forte!" cried Adam, Lumière coming to his aide. He laid Forte on his back and checked for breathing. "He'z gone, Your Highness." he said, pale.

"I-I thought you w-wanted to end him, r-right, Prince A-Adam? I did it, r-rig-?" started Fife. "No Fife, it was only to take his powers away if he didn't listen! I just wanted to talk to him!" Adam yelled, furious. "The Enchantress said to NOT point it at him for too long, or else." his voice softened. "Oh no..." said Fife. "And what's with overloading the furnaces, Fife?!" demanded Cogsworth. "Are you trying to burn the castle down?" "N-no! I was t-trying to stall the guard from chasing me, I wanted to keep the jar to stop Forte! I wanted to be a hero! I didn't know Princess Belle was after m-me too! Oh," Fife whined. He raised the jar up high in the air, and smashed it down.

"NO!" Bellowed Adam, nearly jumping up. A servant came back with water and Adam trickled some down Belle's throat. She mumbled and coughed, but was luckily alive. Adam sighed with relief. The energy from within the jar manifested into a humanoid form. It took on the appearance of... Forte. It looked like Forte, but with a ghostly pale blue hue. The wig was a light blue in color versus the lavender-ish color Forte has. The skin was milky white, blush nearly absent on its face. The marking around the eyes were darker and took on a purplish hue. The lips also gained a darker, purplish bluish hue and the pupils glowed red. It glowed an outline of white and levitated, furthering its ghost-like appearance.

"Oh no I killed him!" cried Fife. "I'm so sorry, Maestro! So sorry-!" "SILENCE!" it bellowed, using its red powers to restrain and choke Fife. It sounded a lot like Forte, but with an added echo. From the shattered remains of the jar, pink wisps of energy rose up and went over to Forte's lifeless body. As it entered his mouth, he gasped sharply as he came back to life. The pink aura then expelled from his body, making him glow a warm golden color as it whips around healing his injuries. He got up, dazed as he looks around and sees his double. Forte concentrated on his right hand, until it glowed green. He still has his powers. Not stopping to ask what just happened, he flung his energy right at the spectral image of himself. It cried out in pain as it drops Fife and he fell on the floor, passed out. The others have since vacated the dining hall, screaming as they did. The copy turned around and looked at Forte.

"Who the devil are you?" Forte said spitefully, clenching fists. The eerie image laughed, echoing as it did so. "Can't you see? I'm you, but better. I shall be called Fortissimo."


	12. -Forte vs Forte-

-Forte vs Forte-

"Hello Darkness, my old friend," Forte said sarcastically. "Enough with the formalities; who said _you_ were the better half? More like _bitter half_ to me." Fortissimo's left eye twitched in irritation. It rose higher in the air and raised its palms as it said darkly, "I'll make you my _battered_ half if you don't take that back!" Forte narrowed his eyes and smirked as he said, "It seems more like you're my _buttered_ half, since you're so _bothered_ by my insignificant insults." Fortissimo's eyes glowed a darker red. "What are you doing?!" whispered Prince Adam. "Get Be- _Princess_ Belle to safety, Master. I need to get him out of here." Forte whispered back, careful not to move his lips too much.

Forte began backing away from the table. "Are you calling me _SOFT?!_ " it roared, floating towards Forte. Forte then walked backwards towards the entrance of the dining room, eyeing the eerie evil maestro cautiously. "Well, you're certainly _hard_ of hearing, I'll give you that." he snapped back. He sure knows how to piss himself off. It worked, and Fortissimo has completely forgotten Adam and Belle as he pursues Forte out into the main foyer. _It seems that rage does make you blind,_ thought Forte as he stops. "Give up, and give in to your darkest desires! I know you still want them DEAD!" shouted Fortissimo as it launches a red stream of music sheet energy towards Forte. Forte plays a few notes on keys he materialized and created a music wall to block the attack.

Forte looked towards the dining hall he just left. "I may still harbor a few ill feelings, but I will not heed them again." said Forte determinedly. _I hope Fifey is okay,_ thought Forte.

Belle slowly opened her eyes, then fluttered them as she fully rouses to wakefulness. "Wha-? Where am I?" she said drowsily. Adam slowly helped her up to her feet, supporting her weight with her left arm around his shoulder. "No time to explain everything. Forte is in trouble, but he wants us to get to safety." Belle looked to Adam in confusion, her beautiful amber eyes slowly blinked in bewilderment. One guard came from the kitchen and came over to assist. "My apologies, Your Majesties. I had to place Guard Philippe down to be free to help you." Adam nodded in understanding and handed over Belle to him. "Get her to safety, I'll be back." "Wait, Adam! What's going on?!" said Belle voice raised in alarm. "Shh! Keep your voice down! IT will hear you!" Adam whispered raspy. Belle cocked her head to one side and was about to protest, but the guard turned around and headed into the kitchen with Belle, reluctantly complying due to still being weak.

Adam sighed as he said to himself, "What am I to do with that girl?" He then smiled before turning to bring Fife up to his feet. "Wha-? Where is everyone?" Fife said deliriously, rubbing his head. "Stay here in this kitchen, Fife. I need to help Forte." He went with Fife into the kitchen and keeled down next to Belle to prop him up against the wall. "Care to explain to me what's going on?" she asked Adam. "I'm sorry, Belle, but I promise I'll explain later. I got to go." With that, he kissed her forehead, and headed for the dining hall entrance.

"I think YOU are the one who's the soft one," Fortissimo hissed. Just as Forte turned around to leave out the castle, the doors glowed red and shut hard before he could even make a move. "Let me bring you back to your senses." Fortissimo drew closer to Forte and floated down until touching the ground. Forte grunted in irritation and turned just in time to meet face-to-face with his ghostly double, a mere two feet away. Forte glared piercingly at Fortissimo, and Fortissimo returned the same evil glare right back with more malice as he continued. "For what reason you harbored your hurt and spite and bitterness, only to throw it all away, just because our _Master_ apologized?"

"He's not YOUR Master. You have no part in this castle." spat Forte. Fortissimo recoiled briefly before grabbing Forte by the throat with its right hand and pulled him closer to its face. "Open your eyes, you old fool! I would not even BE here if it wasn't for your hate. I am vengeance incarnate, and I will NOT be tossed aside! I still sense loathing in you." Fortissimo leaned into Forte's ear and emphasized between teeth, "Give. In. To. Your. HATE." Forte pushed Fortissimo back several feet and said as his hands began glowing, "I do still have loathing in my heart, but the only person I hate right now is myself, and is standing in front of me." Forte summoned what appeared to be large, medium dog-sized piano or organ keys in a row and fired them towards Fortissimo.

Fortissimo mimicked Forte's keys and fired red ones back at his green ones. The key collided with each other and exploded in an array of firework-like lights. Fortissimo floated back up high once more hands glowing at the ready. They both stood their ground, figuratively for Fortissimo, as they eyed each other with overwhelming menace. The tension became so thick, that Forte began breathing heavily from the stare down. He winced as he collapsed down on one knee, keeping his eyes on Fortissimo. Fortissimo didn't even crack a smug grin. Forte chuckled, then mumbled sarcastically, "Of course I'd be weakened from getting what felt like my very soul ripped away from my body, but it's nothing serious."

Fortissimo narrowed his eyes and turned its head away slightly while saying, "Reached your limit have you, old bean? You're NOTHING without me. You're weak! Useless!" "How about you get your powers and soul sucked into a tiny jar and see how _YOU_ like it, you pale freak!" Forte spat bitterly. Fortissimo widened eyes in horror for a split second. "So you're turning to name-calling are we, _Maestro_?" mocked Fortissimo. _"So you're turning to name-calling, are we Master?"_ The memory of what Forte said to Adam before taking over the castle has flooded back into his mind. "No..." Forte spoke softly. Then his voice rose in confidence. "I'm not like you. I've changed heart! I understand Master now! I. AM. NOT. LIKE. YOU!"

Forte found the strength to get up and shoot a music sheet stream at Fortissimo. He dodge it with ease and taunted, "I know YOU, of all people, aren't trying to find strength in trivial things like _friendship_ and _loyalty_ and _LOVE!_ " He laughed maniacally. "Oh, THAT'S rich!" Forte rolled his eyes and said calmly, "Oh please. I just realized I didn't want to be beaten by a has-been like you." Fortissimo's left eye twitched angrily. It growled, "You were ONCE like me, and you will once again BECOME like me!" With that he flew quickly down to Forte, but before Forte could ready an attack, they both collided, with Fortissimo poofing away on contact.

"AAAGH!" Forte fell down to his hands and knees in anguish and he felt anger boiling up to the brim at an alarming rate. The venom of malice and spite spiked his veins, pulsating in pain. He closed his eyes tightly as if to minimize the pain any further. "Can't...lose...control!" Forte hissed, teeth grinding at the newfound pain. This level of hate and anger is ridiculous. Even for Forte, it didn't hurt to be extremely angry before.

From the distance, servants watched quietly and carefully as the fight unfolded, noiselessly rooting Forte on and gasping when he is hit. Lumière and Cosgworth sat behind a wall as they saw the maestro struck down. "Forte!" he hoarsely whispered, mouth open in shock. "We have to help him, mon amie!" he said quietly to Cogsworth. "What can we possibly do to help him, old bean? He looks like he'll snap any minute and be evil again!" he whispered back. "Just wait and watch, idiots. Don't do anything rash." added Angelique. They all turned to the ailing man on the floor before them, unable to do a thing without putting their own lives at risk.

Just then, Adam came in and saw Forte on the floor, groaning in agony. "Forte!" Prince Adam began, as he ran towards him. "STAY BACK!" Forte shouted, snapping his gaze to Adam's direction, head still parallel to the floor. Adam slowed to a stop when he saw Forte's eyes were glowing red. He's losing it. "Need...to... fight it back,... Master..." he groaned between racked breaths. Forte clenched his fists and shut his eyes again, fighting back the evil within.

 _Give up. Give in. You cannot win._ The voice of Fortissimo hissed in his head, like a serpent whispering sweet nothings in his ears.

 _Give in to your bloodlust. Kill them. Kill them all for hurting you._ "It's not...that bad...you're wrong...!" Forte mumbled under his breath, apparently to no one but the voice in his head.

 _They left you alone. Alone to die._ "Shut...up..." Forte continued, struggling. He lowered his head and raised his hands to reach around both side of his head, clinging for dear life to his ears and wig. Adam retreated behind the dining hall doors and looked on with pity.

 _They left you for dead. Now let them DIE._ "No...!" he mumbled. _They're hurting you again._

 _"Don't come near us, strano."_

 _"Eww, don't touch me!"_

 _"I feel bad for your sister to have such an ugly brother."_

 _"You're so weird."_

 _"Do us a favor, and go DIE."_

 _"Hey, look at The Ugly Duckling following the princess!"_

 _"If you like that organ so much, why don't you go play with it? Oh wait, you do!"_

 _"Leave these kids alone, ghost boy! You're scaring everyone with your pale ugly self!"_

"LEAVE. ME. ALONE!" Forte roared as he stood up quickly, and expelled Fortissimo from out his body. The force was so great, that he hit the table on the far side of the wall, destroying it and the decorations adorning it as well as creating a slight crater in the wall. "Well, it seems your not so intangible after all," Forte teased calmly, dusting off his shoulders. "I also seemed to managed to sap away at your powers whilst you were wreaking havoc on my psyche. I feel one hundred percent now." Forte held up his right hand, but kept his arm to his side as he made his hand glow green, now brighter and greener than before.

Fortissimo got up slowly from laying down and said nonchalantly, "So what? You've managed to get some of your original powers back, good for you." "More like all of it." Forte said, smirking and placing his hands behind his back. "What-?!" Fortissimo gasped as he tried to gather his powers, only to sputter and die out in his hands. It grimaced, then smirked slyly as he said mockingly, " _Good for you._ " Without warning, he shot out his hands and blasted Forted back with powers that came out of nowhere. "You've forgotten that I'm FUELED BY RAGE AND HATE! So long as I feel the wretched malice in your heart, I will NEVER CEASE! My power will only return, and grow. You can keep your original powers, I can regenerate mine."

Forte laid on the floor wondering what to do. _How am I to eliminate this thing? No matter what I throw at it, it keeps deflecting or returning fire, usually stronger. Aggression doesn't work on this thing._ thought Forte. Then he remembered a conversation he and his sister had when they were young adults.

 _"Remember when we were kids and I was the loud one and you were the quiet one?" Forte rummaged through his music sheets, carefully reading line by line as if each bar captivated him. "Mm-hmm," he responded absent-mindedly. They sat at what appeared to be an outside bench with a table and umbrella covering outside. "Y-yeah, it seems that we turned the tides, you and I." Forte looked up, attention fully undivided, at Piano as he retorted, "Oh, so I'm the loud one now? Really Piano?" Piano smiled sheepishly and said quietly, "Well I'd say more flamboyant at least. You have grown into a remarkable young Maestro, Forte!"_

 _Forte's long, gleaming black hair was strewn wildly about his face as if the wind was playing in his hair. He has plump lips, curved cheek and jawbone, and slightly dark circles around his darker eyes, giving off a haunting beauty. "You know, you don't always have to play loudly," Piano mused. Forte shot her a glare that sent chills down her spine. "N-no offense to your love of pipe organs, b-but maybe you can play softer notes on say, a piano instead." Forte's eyes softened into an endearing one. He looked down at his sheets and said, "You know how I feel about playing softer notes. Softer tones are not," He paused, looking to Piano with a mischievous grin and said slyly, "my forte."_

Forte knew just what he had to do. His approach this whole time was to be aggressive, more powerful and play louder, that it all seems to be futile against something that feeds off negativity, rage, and wrath. It wants Forte to fight with all his rage, all his hurt. It wants him to be blinded by rage in order to take over, to finish what Forte started. _Turned my own trick against me,_ Forte thought. After all, it is an extension of Forte's own emotion and powers, but fueled by a much darker hate. He got up slowly, chuckling as he did so. Fortissimo narrowed his eyes again. "What's so funny?" Forte simply grinned and said, "I think it's time we stopped playing around. It's time to end this."

Forte readied his hands, and they glowed blue.

 **(A/N: Get ready for the conclusion next time! ch. 12, Resolution.**

 **Don't worry, there will be an epilogue! :D**

 **EDIT: FF is annoying me with removing my italics! ERRRGH!)**


	13. -Resolution-

-Resolution-

Belle huffed with frustration as she crossed her arms over her stomach. She looked over to Fife angrily. Fife smiled sheepishly, but it slowly faded as her cold gazed did not falter. "I guess I owe you an apology, You Majesty." Fife said glumly. "And an explanation," Belle added forcefully. Belle looked over to Philippe and another guard sitting next to him. Philippe was completely stripped of his armor and chainmail, wearing only dark long pants and a white shirt with brown calf-high boots. He leaned against the other guard, seemingly asleep. "Is he going to be alright?" Belle asked the other guard tiredly. "He'll be fine, Your Majesty. He was just dehydrated and exhausted when I found him. I have since gave him water when he regained consciousness, but now he's resting." Belle softly grunted in response.

She then turned her gaze back at Fife, glaring impatiently. "I-I'm s-so sorry, Y-Your Majest-t-ty!" Fife stuttered out, voice from being choked earlier. "I d-didn't know you w-were also chasing me; I w-was only slowing h-him down." He pointed to Philippe, arm shaking as he did so. Fife cleared his throat and sighed deeply, then said sadly, "I understand if you don't want to forgive me, um, Your Majesty." He looked away with a pained expression. Belle's eyes softened as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "I forgive you, Fife, just don't do anything foolish like that again." Belle said sweetly and smiled.

"Well," Fife started. Belle's smile faded as she gave him a concerned look. "What did you do, Fife?" inquired Belle, voice stern but gentle. Fife turned from leaning on the wall to completely facing Belle. "I um, remember that I took the enchanted jar?" he said. "Uh huh," replied Belle turning slightly to face him. She winced as she felt movement in her abdomen and a pain in her back simultaneously. "Oh, uh ok, don't move too much, Princess Belle. I will help you get comfortable." said Fife to Belle, then he got up slowly, feeling slightly dizzy from being getting dropped by Fortissimo before. He went over to a stack of flour bags and grabbed one at a time, struggling as he did so. The other guard leaned Philippe to the wall and off him to go help the meek maestro.

The bags of flour were finely granulated, plushy to the touch and gave Belle support as they supplied one bag behind her, and one bag underneath her knees and bottom. "Thank you, gentlemen." Belle softly. The baby still kicked here and there, but the back pain subsided with the new position. The guard sat back down next to Philippe and Fife returned to Belle's side. "As I said before, Your Majesty, I went outside to go take the jar. I did not take it to betray you and Prince Adam, no. I wanted to gain Forte's trust so that I didn't get controlled forcefully too. I was going to use it against him to be a hero, and well, I did."

Belle gave him a surprised look, then thought back to what Adam said. She asked, "Then why did Adam say that Forte needed help? Did he not comply, even after getting his powers taken away?" Fife looked down and said glumly, "I pointed it at him for too long." Belle gasped. "Fife! You were there! You overheard what Pi-The Enchantress said!" Fife looked up in surprise and said, "I didn't anything about the precautions, Your Majesty. After I overheard her talking about how to stop Forte, I sneaked away to try and come up with my own plan of beating him." Belle sighed, slapping her forehead lightly. "That explains why you said that it sucks people in when you open it. It only works for Forte, and it only takes his powers away, not trap him in."

"I know it only works for him, I just lied to him to get him close enough to the jar. You were protected by those necklace things...right?" Fife said as he slowly looked to the necklace around Belle's neck. The stone has since long stopped glowing when the jar broke. Fife reached into his pockets and took out the stone necklace he took from Belle. "You can have your necklace back," he chuckled nervously. He tied the popped string together and placed the second necklace around her neck. The stones reacted with each other from the proximity and glowed blue instead of white. Fife's eye lit up as he said to Belle, "I have an idea. Come with me." said Fife.

"But what happened to Forte?" asked Belle, as Fife helped her get up slowly. "Long story short, Forte died, again, then another evil Forte came out and attacked me, then some pink magic brought him back to life and then he attacked the evil blue Forte and he dropped me and I passed out. That's all I know." he said quickly, but understandably. They headed for the door, but Belle turned and said to the guard, "Come, won't you aide us?" The guard sat still and shook his head. "My apologies, Your Majesty. I need to keep an eye out for Philippe. Besides, knowing him, if he wakes up to see Fife, he'll strangle him for what he did."

"Good point," Fife said as he and Belle quickly left the kitchen to head for the dining hall, then foyer.

~~~

Forte materialized a blue bench to sit on. He sat down and began playing a soft, mellow song. It sounded a lot different in tone; the tune was much more...pleasant, soft. The blue keys before him were not of an organ, but of a _piano_. "What's-eh?! What is this awful music you're playing?!" Fortissimo boomed. Forte ignored him and kept playing, he had to concentrate. It's been decades since he ever played anything remotely lighthearted and happy by ear, so he must focus on the one song he saw his sister, Piano, play long ago when she was mastering the piano.

 _"What's that you're playing?" asked a young adult Forte, sitting in a chair in the empty theatre. "Why, it's a piano, silly," teased Piano happily. Forte scowled in annoyance. "No kidding," he drawled sarcastically. "I meant, what piece are you playing?" he asked. Piano, not taking her eyes off her hands as they danced across the keys slowly, said "It's my own piece I created." Forte walked from his chair in the theatre and stepped up on stage. He walked until he faced her next to the piano and said nonchalantly, "It sounds a bit sad. It's unlike you, you're always happy." "And you seem always gloomy, caro fratello." Forte stuck out his tongue at her. He closed his eyes, straightening his jacket as he said, "I am what you would call..." he gave a long pause before opening his eyes. "Composed." He then smirked slyly as he winked._

Forte hit a sour note and felt the chair falter a bit underneath him. Fortissimo felt a twinge of strength when the sour note hit. Forte remained calm as he started over again. Fortissimo grinned mischievously as he said, "I _hear_ you slipping. Your not as good as you were in the past, are you Forte?" Forte continued playing, but looked up to Fortissimo and said, "You said that as so long as I have hate in my heart, you will remain? The only person I'm directing my hate to is myself, but that in and of itself is why you remain here, why I cannot defeat you by brute force alone."

Fortissimo struck at Forte with red blasts of energy, but it dissipated upon coming near Forte as an invisible shield, shimmering blue from top to bottom, had deflected it. Fortissimo gasped as Forte continued, "Anyway, as I was saying, I cannot beat you by using my own powers with force. You seem to thrive on my rage and hate, and since that very same drive of hate fuels me to defeat you, it also fuels you to control me. Though I say I hate myself, I really meant myself, not you. I do regret my transgressions, though it was rooted with misunderstanding and miscommunication from both sides. I took the pain of it all hard instead of trying to clarify why the Master never went down into the West Wing, or if I will still matter to him after the enchantment has lifted."

Fortissimo collapsed down on its knees and gasps at the newfound pain. "What's this?! Ugh! I feel...weaker!" It looked at its hands and tried to muster up its powers but only sputtered and died out. "So, for me to defeat you..." Forte said calmly. Blue music sheet streaks were strewn about from the piano keys around the room, basking it in a calm blue glow. The servants slowly came out of hiding after feeling how relaxed and calm they felt. Fortissimo looked around and narrowed its eyes. "HA!" it shouted, shoving its hands in front of him, hands glowing red. As soon as he mustered up the last of his powers to attack and launch it from his hands, it evaporated on the spot, rendering the final attack useless.

"No..." moaned Fortissimo. He placed his hands back down on the floor as he grows weaker and weaker. Its pupils stopped glowing red, and Fortissimo looks like nothing but a blue-washed image of Forte. "Stop...STOP!" it yelled. Forte continued just as Fife and Belle came out with Adam. Forte looked up at them and almost missed a note, but he quickly looked away and focused on nothing else but the music until its final notes.

When Forte finished, everyone was out in the foyer applauding, including Fife, Belle, and Adam. Philippe was upright and awake leaning on the guard watching him near the dining hall door, eyeing Fife with disdain. Forte got up, causing the bench and keys to disappear, and bowed gracefully eyes closed, a slight smile on his face. Fortissimo was quivering on the floor, elbows buckling to hold it up. "As I've said before, for me to defeat you..." Forte repeated as he walked to his weaker self. He kneeled in front of him, even though Fortissimo is facing down at the floor, too weak to move. Belle gave Adam one of the necklaces around her neck, still glowing blue.

They cautiously made their way over to the maestros and Belle sat at one side of Fortissimo, and Adam on the other side. Forte smiled slightly as he said softly, "I have to forgive myself." He sat Fortissimo up and hugged him. Belle smiled too and hugged them, Adam following suite. The stones glowed brighter as Fortissimo began to glow bright also and fade. As he did, he regained color, looking the spitting image of Forte, but with tears streaming down and glowing. "Thank you..." was all it said to Forte when it pulled away to look him in the eye, before completely dissipating.

The stones finally died down and shattered, crumbling into nothing and the strings vanishing off Belle's and Adam's neck. An orb of light appeared in the foyer before floating down and forming the shape of a woman. Forte, Belle, and Adam all got up and looked to see The Enchantress, Piano, make an appearance. Forte's eyes widened in horror and shock as he said breathlessly, "Good heavens, Piano?" He walked slowly to her. "It's been a long time, fratello." she said sweetly. _Indeed, it's her,_ thought Forte. "Ah! Mon amie! Zat waz superb! Ze way you fought off zat evil Forte!" boasted Lumière, running towards Forte. "Hugz all around!" Forte dodged left from Lumière's wide-pen arms with a look of annoyance.

"Don't hug me," Forte drawled. "Just because I did it just then doesn't mean I will do it again." "Same old Forte?" Cogsworth said, walking over. "Hello there, Cogsworth. You lost weight." mocked Forte. Cogsworth growled in irritation and annoyance as well, sighing, "Yep, same Forte." Lumière turned to Piano and said, "And you must be ze Enchantrezz, non?" "And Forte's sister," Piano added.

The whole room gasped into silence, bar Adam and Belle, who giggled. "Don't worry, our reaction wasn't that far off either," Adam chimed in, lightening the mood further. Several servants laughed in response. Angelique walked over to greet Piano with a smile and a curtsy. She then turned to Forte and said coldly, "Don't think I'll apologize for hitting you with that goblet." Forte looked to her with indifference and said flatly, "I didn't count on it anyway. Besides, I know where you sleep anyway." He shot her an evil grin as she asked angrily, unfazed, "Wha-? Just what does THAT mean?!" He chuckled and said, "All I'm saying is don't go to sleep tonight."

Piano chimed in and said to Angelique, "My brother was quite the prankster, believe it or not. He also liked messing with people's heads, which is why people can't tell if he's bluffing or not, but they rather not take the chance." "Likes," Angelique corrected. She motioned two fingers pointing at her narrowed eyes to his smirking ones, indicating she's watching him before storming off. "She's always like that, so I really don't care," Forte explained to Piano monotonously. Piano just motioned her mouth to 'oh' quietly. Fifi, who watched from afar, rushed up and said, "Don't believe her, Maestro! I apologize on behalf of both of us, for I threw the candelabrum at you." Forte simply nodded silently in approval.

"May I have your attention, please?" Piano announced elegantly. Adam approached her as everyone grew quiet. "You may have the floor, Enchantress." Adam stated as he bowed to her, and she curtsied back. Piano then said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I will first and foremost apologize about today's events. I did not intend for things to spiral out of control as it did when I entrusted the enchanted jar to the royal couple and their accompanying guard." Fife, on impulse blurted out with all the confidence he could muster, "A-and I'm to blame for it! I took their jar so I could be the hero, since I overheard The Enchantress talking with the royal couple, but I didn't hear everything a-and..."

Everyone turned to Fife, waiting for him to finish, including Forte. "Go on..." he said coolly. Fife gulped and said meekly, "...and I was the one who inevitably caused Fortissimo to appear." He hung his head down in shame. He was about to cry when he felt someone hug him. He looked up through his teary eyes to see Forte comforting him. "Shh, it's okay Fifey. I don't hold it against you, hmm that much." Though discomforted at hearing him say that, he still felt some relief of his honesty rather than outright lying. He hugged him back and as soon as he did, Forte pulled away and smacked him 'lightly' in the back of the head. He then patted him on the head endearingly. "Had to do it." he said flatly.

"I don't blame you," added Fife, smiling as he wiped away a tear. "A-and Princess B-Belle and that guy back t-there," he said looking to Belle and pointing to Philippe, who's still glaring at him. "I'm s-sorry. I didn't mean for you two to, to almost...oh..." "I already forgave you Fife, it's okay." said Belle tenderly. Philippe waved his hand off and looked away, indicating he had forgave him, though he still appears upset. Piano tilted her head as she said, "However..." Everyone looked to her once again. She continued, "Perhaps it may have needed to happen to set my brother free." Forte looked confused as she explained, "You see Forte, there had always been a dark cloud of emotions in your heart for years. It was only made worse by the enchantment and then the breaking thereof."

"If you knew the many wrong things that went on in my life, Piano-" Forte started. "I didn't know everything that went wrong in your life, but I felt responsible for starting it." Piano replied. Forte looked down, thinking back. His eyes widened slightly, then he raised his head and said, "But if it wasn't for you, I may have never discovered the talent in me to play the organ. I probably would've been a scholar or something." Cogsworth snickered at the thought of Forte being a bookworm. Forte grimaced, but other than that ignored Cogsworth's response.

Piano continued, "On one hand, if they merely took your powers away so you'd be safer to talk to, then if you felt true guilt and regret, the blue energy would bring your powers back. Again, however," Piano spoke again, but this time her tone was grave. "If the jar was facing you for too long, as it did, it would kill you, but the pink energy would be there to restore you back to life if you felt regret and guilt. That's the only difference with the pink and blue magic of the jar. But with the jar sucking out your original powers, the emotions that were tied to the intent on what to do with it, manifested into your former self. Since you went from loathing everyone to loathing yourself for what you've done, the hatred was greater in intensity."

"Ssooo, that jar basically ripped the evil out of him?" Cogsworth stated pompously. Forte resisted the urge to shoot him an evil glare, so he rolls his eyes angrily and snorted instead. "In other words, yes. Or rather, the years of resentment Forte accumulated." Then a question occurred to Forte. He asked Piano, "Will he, or it, or whatever that was come back again if I get too angry?" "You'd have to build up enough hate and spite for a long time, so it's possible, I believe, but it's not likely to happen again. At least, it shouldn't happen so soon again." replied Piano. "It seemz not all of it, Cogsy. Watch yourself." whispered Lumière poorly. "I. Can. Hear. You." gritted Forte lowly, turning to face Lumière's sheepish grin. "I would also like to speak with you in private, caro fratello." mumbled Piano to Forte. "Prince Adam, you may dismiss your subjects. I shall have a little chat with brother dear here." And with that, a handful of servant tended to Belle and her health as she is escorted upstairs while Adam maintains activities from the throne room.

Two hours later, when Forte and Piano emerged from the West Wing basement, even though Forte would rather talk elsewhere, but Piano was interested, Adam called in all the servants to come say farewell to The Enchantress. They said their goodbyes as she faded back into a ball of light before vanishing. "Wait, she never told us how she knew about the other Forte thing!" Cogsworth blurted. "She told me, dear Cogsworth, that she was watching the ordeal the whole time. She just didn't have the strength to stop me herself, otherwise there was no need for the whole jar thing. We had a very lengthy two-hour discussion of many things." said Forte. "Well in other news, Belle's child is going to be okay! The heat from the boiler room miraculously didn't appear to have any adverse effects! Only time will tell though." chimed Mrs. Potts, walking into view. "I just want to share the news before returning to my duties. And worry about Chip, my boy is off helping the servant outside with feeding livestock." "Thank you, miss." Forte said kindly. "Tell Chip I said hello." With that, she nodded and waddled off, humming.

"Humpf! If that was me who delivered the message of Her Majesty's news, you'd chew me out from it" fumed Cogsworth. "I sure would," Forte replied honestly.

"So now what?" asked Cogsworth. "So now I'll be composing pieces with Fife, is that so hard, _Cogsy_?" Forte said mockingly. "And have two composers?!" exclaimed Cogsworth. Forte feigned dumbfounded and said, flabbergasted, "Really? We were both here before enchantment before, so what difference does it make? Make ME understand!"

Cogsworth merely scoffed and said, "If there's anything of you I didn't miss, it's your sass!"

"I'll try to be less sassy." said Forte. "Good day." He grinned sincerely before turning to head back to his favorite instrument.

"I wonder if he still haz powerz," Lumière stated. "Maybe Ze Enchantrezz took zem away." "Who knows?" added Cogsworth. "Well, he knows." He then smiled genuinely and said politely, turning in Forte's direction, "But regardless, welcome back Maestro Forte."

 **(A/N:** **At last, the FINAL chapter! (no!)**

 **Thank you all for reading my first Beauty and the Beast fanfic! I'm sorry if the ending was kind booty (I finished it a 4am), I find it hard to begin and end things, but hey!**  
 **I'll go back and edit it if it's too booty (if it is), or something. But for now, this stands.**

 **Stay tuned for the Epilogue!** **)**


	14. -Epilogue-

-Epilogue-

7 years later

 _A couple of children and a teenager sneaked their way into the West Wing, once the coast was clear of servants. It was near midnight, but with the autumn festivities going on and Fife busy orchestrating upstairs, it was rather easy slipping away from the other children and adults. "Come on, Papa said the room was this way," said one of the boys. "But, Prince Abraham, what if The King or Queen finds out?" said another boy. "Don't worry, William, he said it's alright to go visit him." said Abraham. He was seven years of age with a white long sleeve shirt and dark grey pants. He had blue eyes and short dark brown hair, like Belle's hair. The girl, a little younger than either boy, kept quiet. She wore a baby pink dress with yellow lace trimmings. She has long light brown hair, like Adam's, and hazel eyes. William, a boy with green eyes and blonde hair, said cautiously, "But Young Master, we'll get in trouble!" William was much older than the other two, maybe fourteen or fifteen. Abraham grinned wildly and boasted, "We'll get no such thing. I'll ask my father to pardon you, it's not your idea."_

 _Abraham opened the door with a soft creak into the basement where the organ was held. They walked inside, and Abraham took one last look around the corner to see if anybody spotted them before closing the door as quietly as he could before descending the stairs. "It's creepy down here," the young girl said timidly. She was around five years of age, and was rather shy and quiet. Abraham held her hand for comfort as they continued. The group finally made it to the bottom of the stairs and walked along the long corridor. There was no music playing, which unnerved the children. "Maybe he's not here, Young Master. I hear no music; we should turn back." said William concernedly. "But I want to see Uncle Forte," whined Abraham. William sighed and reluctantly pressed forward._

 _The group stopped at the double doors that led into the room. A faint chill can be felt slipping through the crack between the doors. William started to turn to head back but Abraham, still staring forward at the door, grabbed blindly behind him and gripped the hem of William's shirt. Groaning, William stepped in front of the siblings and opened the doors. The room was dead silent and Forte was nowhere to be found. The only sound came from the echoes of their footsteps. "Hello? Are you in here, Forte?" said the girl. "Bella, he's not here," said Abraham sadly. Then, he perked up and said, "Let's go touch the keyboard!" William grabbed Abraham's right and said quietly, "Oh you don't want to do that. I heard he doesn't like anyone touching his instrument. Maybe he was upstairs, and we just missed him." Abraham pouted, but he said hopefully, "Well I just want a closer look at it."_

 _The three approached the stairs leading up to the massive organ. "Wow," they all whispered simultaneously, looking up. They stare up at a rather peculiar piece at the top of the organ. The metal structure appears to be almost a face in design. "Cool, I like this bi ol' thing!" Abraham giggled. "BOO!" boomed the face as it came alive and leaned in as much as it could, eyes opening to completely glowing green ones. The children all screamed in terror and Abraham fell backwards, and William stood, frozen with fear. Bella started crying hysterically, though Forte laughed at their misfortune. "How... h-how d-d-dare you scare the King and Queen's c-children!" stuttered William, cuddling Bella. Forte immediately stopped and said softly, "Uh-oh..."_

 _Green wisps of energy appeared and the face on the organ disappearing. The energy swirled down to them, and Forte materialized as a human. "My apologies, Your Majesties. I was told by the Master that he was going to escort his children down here." Not soon after, Queen Belle and King Adam rushed in with several other servants and guards behind them. "OH! Oh my goodness, are you okay?!" Belle cried as Bella ran, screaming towards her mother. "He-he-he-he-!" Bella repeated 'he' over and over between sobs and gasps of air. Forte walked over to the crowd with his head down and said humbly, "If I knew they were yours, I'd never would have scared them. I would only scare nosy children away so they wouldn't bother me." William and Abraham ran past him to the crowd before him, but Adam gripped William's arm. "You said you'd keep an eye out for them!" said Adam angrily._

 _"It's my fault, Papa. I told him I wanted to go see him, and I know you said later, but I couldn't wait." said Abraham as he wiped his tears. Forte slowly turned his dull gaze to William, who stared back fearfully. Unnerved, William looked away. "I believed he's been punished enough, Master." said Forte calmly, still staring at William. William looked at Forte again, but shuddered when Forte gave him a chilling smile. Forte changed his smile into a warmer one as he knelt to meet Abraham and Bella eye-to-eye. "I'm so sorry, Young Master and Mistress. My name is Forte Grandioso, but you can call me whatever you like." "Scary," mumbled Bella, calming down. She walked carefully over to the maestro, next to her brother. "Yeah, but cool," Abraham added, voice still pitched with fear._

 _"We had the whole castle looking for these two after they mysteriously vanished." Belle stated, voice still shaking. She took a few deep rattled breaths, and steadied her breathing. She said softly, "The moment we all heard screaming, we came running as fast as we could." "We feared the worst," Adam included, releasing William. William took off, a spot of wet slowly appearing in the rear crevice of his pants. A thump was heard shortly after. A guard peeked around the corner and shouted, "He's fainted!" Forte rose and said, "So, tell me your names, Young Master and Little Miss." Abraham stepped forward, no longer afraid, and said happily, "My name's Abraham!" Forte was shocked, then his eyes softened as hie lips made a small 'O'. "Aww, you named him after your father, Master." Forte cooed. Adam and Belle merely smiled at his reaction. "And you, little Miss?" said Forte softly. Bella backed away and ran behind Belle. "Belladonna is rather shy, but we all call her Bella." Belle said._

 _Adam waved his hands to the small crowd of guards and servants to turn back around and head back upstairs. "Very true to your name, Young Mistress. Just as beautiful as you." Bella peeked around Belle's legs and smiled sweetly. "Thank you," she said quietly, but just loud enough to hear. Belle turned to pick her up, then turned back to Forte and said, "Come with us." Forte nodded slowly and followed the royal family. "Just what did you do, anyway?" Adam inquired. "I heard unfamiliar voices out in the hall, so I thought I'd teach them a lesson and fused into the organ. I was waiting for you to come in with them, that way I'd knew they were your children." Forte replied flatly. "See, Abraham? Let this be a lesson for you to wait and not be hasty." Adam scolded, but his voice was still gentle. "Yes, father, I won't do it again." Abraham said quietly._

 _They reached the main foyer with the rest of the servants, after news spread that the royal prince and princess were found. "Hey! Maestro, over here!" said Fife merrily. He gestured to a seat where a crowd was gathering. Forte said shocked, "Wha-? Me? No, we had an agreement that Fife would lead the festivities and I-" "Would cover for more somber or hymnal events, like funerals or calmer praise and worship songs. I know." said Adam. "But I want you to tell the story instead of me." Forte looked lost and confused. "What? What story? Nobody told me-" he mumbled, looking to Fife, then King Adam and back. Forte sighed and said with defeat, "Fine. Very Well, Master. I will tell them the story." Forte went to sit in the chair, just as an orb of light appeared. "And I'll help," chirped a familiar voice. Forte looked towards her with a small smile, just as she materialized a chair next to him. The children on the floor, the prince and princess in front, all 'ooh'-ed and 'aah'-ed. Then, as the circle of people closed in, Forte began telling the story. A story about his wrath._

 _The wrath of Forte._


End file.
